Robby Stewart

Billy Ray Cyrus auditioned for the part along with two other actors. He was only asked to audition after his daughter Miley had been given the lead role. After he was offered the role, Billy Ray at first had reservations about accepting it, saying "The last thing I would want to do is screw up Miley's show." Miley admitted that it was "weird" at first having her real-life father play the role of her television dad, but later described the situation as "really good."^[1]

Billy Ray provided much of the inspiration for the character which largely became a fictionalised version of himself.

According to the Hannah Montana backstory, Robby was born on July 6, 1968^{[citation needed]} and grew up in fictional Bufford County, Tennessee.^{[citation needed]} He has a large family with eight brothers and sisters.^[2] He has a twin brother named Bobby Ray (also played by Billy Ray Cyrus) and a brother named Earl who is seen in the episode (We're So Sorry) Uncle Earl, and often spoken of. His mother is Ruthie Ray Stewart (Vicki Lawrence), known to his children as "Mamaw." He has a close relationship with Dolly Parton who is the godmother of his two children; she is also the real-life godmother of Miley Cyrus, who plays the starring role of Miley Stewart a.k.a. Hannah Montana.^[3][4][5]

In his early years, Robby, using the stage name "Robby Ray," was a successful country music singer-songwriter charting three number one hits and two top fives. He also won a music video of the year award^[6] and an International Music Award for artist of the year.^[7] He was also honored with a diamond on the Hollywood Parade of Diamonds (a parody of the Hollywood Walk of Fame) prestigiously located in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.^[8] After his wife Susan (Brooke Shields) died (April 12, 1969^{[citation needed]} – December 27, 2002^{[citation needed]}), he retired from his career to look after his two children.^[6] Soon afterwards, he moved the family from Crowley Corners, Tennessee, to California where Miley became famous as Hannah Montana.^[9] He then works as her manager, producer,^[3][10] and primary songwriter. On a few rare occasions, he also performs on stage with Hannah.^[11][12]

As Hannah's manager, Robby wears a fake moustache to hide his identity to keep Miley's secret and sometimes disguises his voice. This ruse, along with his sudden abandonment of his career, may have led one fan (Maddie Fitzpatrick's mother) to believe that he was dead.^[6] However, this disguise is often ineffective at preventing his fans from recognizing him, and several times he even publicly identifies himself as Robby Ray, the father of Hannah Montana.^[7][11][13] To those who are unfamiliar with his previous career, he is known simply as Mr. Montana. It seems that both aliases effectively conceal his identity as Mr. Stewart.

In Hannah Montana: The Movie, he temporarily moves the family back to Tennessee. There he meets a woman named Lorelai (Melora Hardin) who becomes his love interest. He had previously dated real estate agent Margo Diamond and Lilly Truscott's mother Heather (Heather Locklear) in California.

Billy Ray Cyrus inspired many aspects of the Robby Ray Stewart character. Both men are country musicians from Tennessee and share a middle name. Cyrus's real-life relationship with then-teenage daughter Miley Cyrus was similar to Robby's relationship with the character of Miley Stewart in the show. Miley Cyrus has said in interviews that the show's writers received inspiration for the show by listening to her and her father talking.^[14] Also, the depiction of Robby Ray as a has-been country star is meant to poke fun at Cyrus's own music career, which by some was labeled a one hit wonder before the popularity of Hannah Montana. The character’s name is also a pun on Cyrus's real name.