Miley Cyrus Credits Pharrell Williams With Helping Her Rebuild Her Identity After 'Hannah Montana'

Miley Cyrus has a special relationship with Pharrell Williams that she can trace back over a decade.

The 31-year-old “Flowers” Grammy winner joined forces with the musician on their new song “Doctor (Work It Out),” which arrived on Friday (March 1).

In a joint interview, Miley revealed how Pharrell helped her rediscover her own identity after leaving behind her Hannah Montana days. She even shared a specific change to her appearance that he encouraged her to make when no one else would.

Keep reading to find out more…

Speaking to Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, Miley explained that Pharrell was always someone that she trusted.

“He was really the only one that I could kind of tell him what I really wanted, what I really wanted to make, who I really wanted to be, what I really wanted to do,” she recalled, via Billboard. “I think Pharrell was perfect because it was almost like he could be a bumper for me, but he wasn’t going to be a bridle.”

As an example, she remembered telling him her plans to cut her hair into the blonde bob that defined her Bangerz era.

“I was like, ‘Pharrell, I really want to change. I really want to have a big change,’” she said. “He was kind of the only one — I knew that everyone around me would tell me no — and he was really the only one that I asked, ‘What did he think?’”

His response: “And he was like, ‘Go for it today, tomorrow, as soon as you can. That sounds like exactly the perfect thing to do.’”

Speaking of Hannah Montana, we rounded up five other Hollywood stars who auditioned for Miley‘s part on the show.