<p><strong>Photo Credit:</strong> Raph_PH, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0</p>
<p>If you&rsquo;re wondering why Hannah Montana&rsquo;s voice sounds quite different from Miley&rsquo;s voice now &mdash; let&rsquo;s break it down for you.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Miley opened up about a significant change in her voice and how it&rsquo;s deeply affected her career. She revealed that she has a condition called Reinke&rsquo;s edema, a swelling of the vocal cords often caused by overuse, smoking, or general lifestyle stressors.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Miley vulnerably shared, &ldquo;I had the Reinke&rsquo;s edema, which is something that is called &mdash; it&rsquo;s abuse of the vocal cords &mdash; and you know, being 21 and staying up and drinking and smoking and partying after every show does not help. But also in my case, it does not cause it. My voice always sounded like this.&rdquo;</p>
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<p>She explained that the tone and texture fans recognize &mdash; her signature rasp &mdash; is partly shaped by a polyp on her vocal cords, adding, &ldquo;So I have this very large, you know, polyp on my vocal cord, which is giving me a lot of the tone and the texture that has made me who I am. But it&rsquo;s extremely difficult to perform with &mdash; it&rsquo;s like running a marathon with ankle weights on.&rdquo;</p>
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<p>Even regular conversation can take a toll. Miley revealed that by the end of the day, her mother can often tell how exhausted she is just by the sound of her voice, quoting her as saying, &ldquo;Oh, you sound like you&rsquo;re talking through a radio.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s how Miley knows she&rsquo;s completely drained &mdash; the condition creates what she calls &ldquo;ultimate vocal fry.&rdquo;</p>
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<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
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<p>Though surgery could technically address the polyp, Miley is reluctant. She&rsquo;s afraid she&rsquo;d wake up and no longer sound like herself, saying, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not willing to sever it, ever, because the chance of waking up from a surgery and not sounding like myself is a probability.&rdquo;</p>
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<p>While fans constantly hope for a tour, Miley admitted the physical and emotional toll of performing live makes it complicated. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t lip-sync. I sing live. And these songs are big. &lsquo;End of the World&rsquo; is a huge song. &lsquo;More to Lose&rsquo; is strenuous. I don&rsquo;t write little songs.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>She added, &ldquo;Even if you&rsquo;re in the audience singing along, it&rsquo;s one thing &mdash; but when you&rsquo;ve got the mic and you&rsquo;re performing, it&rsquo;s totally different.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Still, the desire to return to the stage hasn&rsquo;t faded. &ldquo;I put a tour together like every other week. I want to do it. But it would have to be in a way that is sustainable for me &mdash; emotionally, physically, vocally.&rdquo;</p>

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