All About Miley Cyrus’ New Boyfriend Maxx Morando and Their ‘Low-Key’ Relationship
Dating rumors linking pop star Miley Cyrus and Lilly drummer Maxx Morando first bubbled up at the end of 2021, after they were seen together in Miami while Cyrus was in town for her New Year’s Eve special, Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party for NBC. At the time, the Daily Mail caught them having a moment on her balcony at her Miami hotel room. There were also glimpses of them dancing backstage. Months later, in March 2022, Entertainment Tonight confirmed the two were together, with a source calling their relationship “low-key.” And over a year later, the couple still seems to be “going strong.”
Here’s what we know about Maxx Morando so far.
Who is Maxx Morando?
Before joining the four-person Los Angeles rock band Lilly, Morando played drums for punk rock band The Regrettes from 2015 to 2018, and they even performed on Conan in 2017. He and Cyrus have many mutual friends in common and have known one another as friends for awhile.
Is their relationship confirmed?
Thirty-year-old Cyrus hasn’t said anything officially about dating 24-year-old Morando, but they were together on the red carpet in November at the Gucci Love Parade fashion show in Los Angeles, so they’re not exactly keeping things a secret.
A source also told E! News in January 2022 that they’re definitely together.
“She’s happily dating Maxx,”said the insider. “It’s official between them.”
The source added, “They are both artistic and creative, so they bond over being musicians,” and did confirm Morando joined her at the NYE party. “He was backstage with Miley and Pete [Davidson] at the New Year’s Eve rehearsals and taping having a good time with them. They were are all super friendly with one another and seemed to have a great night.”
Entertainment Tonight added in a report published on March 1, 2022 that the two have been together privately for some time. “Miley and Maxx have been having a good time together,” the source said. “They’ve been together for a little while and are just enjoying their relationship. Miley likes the fact that they are low-key as a couple and is just focused on doing her thing and being around people that make her happy, and Maxx does that.”
Then, on Thursday, April 14, the couple was photographed kissing in West Hollywood, further confirming the relationship with some PDA. They were seen meeting outside a salon and giving one another a smooch. They then walked down the street shoulder-to-shoulder, looking very couple-y indeed.
Nearly a year later, in March 2023, Cyrus and Morando confirmed they’re still happily together. They made a joint appearance, holding hands, at the Versace show in Los Angeles hours before she dropped her latest album, Endless Summer Vacation. Later that night, they celebrated celebrated the new release together at a Gucci party.
Cyrus and Morando at the Versace show on March 9.
Morando and Cyrus arrive to a Gucci party celebrating her March 10 album release.
Has Cyrus talked about him before?
In September 2021, Cyrus mentioned Morando while talking to Vogue about her performance looks, attributing a print of cartoon monsters to the drummer, which he collaborated on with designer Shane Kastl.
“This look is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between two of my favorite emerging artists, Maxx Morando and Shane Kastl,” she said. “Their collaboration is the perfect example of sustainability becoming the next fashion phase, and it proves that anything can be reinvented, which resonates with me deeply.”
Cyrus also debuted a new song on NYE 2021 called “You,” which she said was so new she didn’t have a chance to record it yet. It later ended up as a track on her 2023 album Endless Summer Vacation. It’s been speculated it’s about her new boyfriend. The lyrics go:
“I got some baggage / Let’s do some damage / I am not made for no horsey and carriage / You know I’m savage / You’re looking past it / I want that late night sweet magic / That forever lasting love / But only if it’s with you.”
What do their friends think of their relationship?
In October 2022, a source told E! News, “Miley and Maxx are still going strong and their relationship is very serious…They have been together for about a year now and Miley is really happy.”
They added, “Everyone in her family loves them together and thinks they mesh really well.”
Cyrus has apparently recently sold her home in Franklin, Tennessee and moved to Los Angeles, the source said, explaining, “She wanted to take a step back from a crazy work schedule recently. She’s in a good place.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.
