Miley Cyrus: My name is powerful

Miley Cyrus considered dropping her surname before deciding it was "too powerful".

The singer-and-actress recently released the first single from her upcoming fourth record, We Can't Stop. It has been a smash hit, with the promo receiving over ten million views on VEVO within 24 hours of it being posted.

Miley is proud of her huge success, especially as she knows people all over the world are now familiar with her.

"I was thinking about dropping the Cyrus and just being Miley, but there's something powerful about the fact that my name now is like a household name," she told Notion magazine.

"I'm living it to the fullest. Rather than taking a blessing and making it a curse, it's just like this is what this name is now."

Miley's personal life has hit the headlines as much as her music has over the last few months. She has become known for her love of the butt-jiggling 'twerking' dance and her engagement to actor Liam Hemsworth is a constant source of speculation.

The star insists she is hugely misunderstood. She may have spoken about her love of partying, but she also takes her work seriously and has given her career her all. Miley found fame appearing as Hannah Montana on the Disney channel and it's a past she is finding it hard to move on from.

"People have this misconception of me that I'm just one of these kids on TV and that now I go off and party and I'm just this ratchet white girl, and I'm not," she insisted.

"I work really, really hard; I'm just in a different environment. I'm young and living and in LA which is everyone's dream, you know."

The 20-year-old star appears in a photoshoot to accompany the interview, in which she poses in a pair of white knickers, towering black heels and a sweatshirt emblazoned with marijuana leaves.