We first noticed Billy Ray Cyrus’s similarity to a certain Paddy’s Pub owner at last year’s Teen Choice Awards, but the transformation actually began a few years prior. Billy Ray turned 53 yesterday, which means that it’s only fitting we take a look back at his monumental contributions to pop culture, both musically and by fathering Miley Cyrus. Only joking! Let’s look at his metamorphosis from mullet-sporting one hit wonder to current Fat Mac doppelgänger.
“Achy Breaky Heart” — 1992
The world was plagued with Billy Ray Cyrus over 20 years ago when his song “Achy Breaky Heart” pushed his debut record Some Gave All to international success. Not much Fat Mac similarity at the start of Billy Ray’s career, just an incredibly hideous — or glorious, depending on who you ask — mullet.
Radical Jack — 2000
Billy Ray’s earliest known similarities to Fat Mac date back to the year 2000, as evidenced by the cover of his straight-to-video action movie Radical Jack. (Available at finer truck stops everywhere.) IMDB describes the movie as the story of an outlaw who decides to go after the one person responsible for ruining his life. If only there was an outlaw who would go after Billy Ray Cyrus for ruining country music.
Wanna Be Your Joe — 2006
For Billy Ray’s 2006 album, he was looking less Fat Mac-ish and more like the owner of a Beverly Hills hair salon. This is also right around the time that daughter Miley was pulling in fat checks from the Disney Channel, providing Billy Ray the financial gains to fully embrace all of his gluttonous tool desires.
Vanity Fair photo shoot with Miley — 2011
This is where we really start to see Billy Ray’s inner Fat Mac shine through. It’s almost as if Billy Ray was somehow channeling Fat Mac, as if he knew that his true form would soon blossom.
Marriage problems — 2010-2013
In 2013 Billy Ray was suffering from a real-life achy breaky heart, as he and wife Tish were going through some marriage problems. My sources tell me that a team of country music psychologists have pinpointed this as the key event that fueled Billy Ray’s near-complete transformation into Fat Mac. It’s nearly impossible to tell where Billy Ray ends and Fat Mac begins.
Billy Ray and Fred Durst Attempt team up for maximum doucheness — 2013
Not much change in Billy Ray’s appearance here, just a simple reminder that one of the worst musical moments of the past decade can be blamed on Arseno Hall for allowing both Fred Durst and Billy Ray Cyrus on the same show. Moving on…
Teen Choice Awards — 2013
Last year’s Teen Choice Awards is when the world really stopped to say “hey, what’s Fat Mac doing with Miley Cyrus? Ohhhh…” Billy Ray was still lacking the full-on Fat Mac gut, but his metamorphosis seemed to reaching its final stages.
iHeart Radio Music Festival — 2014
As of May 2014, Billy Ray’s Fat Mac transformation seems to have taken a different direction and shifted to Mac’s “Viggo Mortensen” look. Only time and doughnuts will tell what new and douchey form Billy Ray will shape-shift into next, but we can be certain that it will hilariously awful.
