Miley Cyrus: I party hard

Miley Cyrus says that even though she's a "self-proclaimed party animal" people shouldn't underestimate her dedicated work ethic.

The 20-year-old singer's new track We Can't Stop revolves around the themes of dancing and drinking until the early hours.

Despite the party-hard lyrics in her songs and her fun-loving nature, Miley is prepared to work hard too.

"People think of me as a party animal, which I am: a self-proclaimed party animal," she laughed in an interview with MTV News. "But I also am the hardest-working person you'll ever know."

Miley became a teen idol thanks to her role in the Hannah Montana franchise, a former Disney Channel sitcom.

The star hopes that people will now understand why she wants to take a new direction with her career.

"Moms, they remember their daughters watching [Hannah Montana], and kids remember watching the show, but that's not who they think I am," she explained.

"I've done so much on my own, like putting out my twerk video... the biggest thing people say to me is, 'I love that you don't care what people think.' And I don't; I can take all the constructive criticism in the world, and... Of course I want people to love my music, but at the end of the day, I make music for me. I make music because I love it and I put good energy into it, so it will be all good."

Miley released We Can't Stop - the lead single from her upcoming fourth studio album - earlier this week. Within ten hours it had topped the iTunes singles charts in 18 countries.