Billy Ray Cyrus thought he might die after sepsis battle and vocal paralysis scare

Billy Ray Cyrus is ready for his musical comeback after years of public family drama, messy divorces, and a health scare that made him come to face-to-face with his mortality. 

© Derek White

In a recent cover story, the country singer opened up to PEOPLE about a terrifying medical crisis that landed him in the hospital and left doctors warning him to get his affairs in order.

According to Billy Ray, the ordeal began in 2024 after he developed sepsis, a life-threatening condition that caused his entire body to swell. "I don't know exactly how it evolved. It was my worst nightmare," he told the outlet.

The experience was even more painful because it happened in the same hospital where his mother, Ruth Ann Cyrus, died in 2022 ."Two years before that, my mom had died in that hospital, on the very floor that I was on," he said.

Doctors weren't optimistic about his condition. Cyrus recalled being told to prepare for the worst.  "I had a prayer answered," the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer said. "That's a miracle."

© Getty

As if surviving sepsis wasn't enough, the singer was later diagnosed with vocal paralysis, putting his music career in jeopardy.

Thankfully, despite years of drama with the family, they are the ones who got him through it. He revealed that his daughter, Noah Cyrus, unknowingly helped him. 

The father of six said he found comfort in her song "Don't Put It All on Me," which includes lyrics about perseverance and surviving difficult moments. "Noah's got that one song, 'Don't Put It All on Me,' that honestly saved my life," he said.

© Emma McIntyre, Getty Images

Another unexpected source of inspiration came from his grandson Bear, the young son of Braison Cyrus. "In this very broken moment of my life, my little grandson Bear looked at me and said, 'Try again,'" he recalled.

What made the moment even more emotional was that Bear had barely spoken to him before. "Up until that moment, he had never spoken to me at all. I wasn't even sure if he knew my name," the country singer said. "In that moment I thought, 'He's telling you something.'"

© Getty

These days, the singer credits his girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley, for helping him believe in himself again. The pair have been dating for about a year, and Cyrus says the actress encouraged him when he was struggling to regain confidence in his voice.

"Elizabeth would say to me, 'Do you understand your voice is coming back?'" he shared. Hurley even convinced him to push himself by appearing on The Masked Singer. "And she said, 'You need to do it to challenge yourself.' And I thought, God, why is she so smart?"

© Getty

Now, as he prepares to release The Hill, his first studio album in 14 years, he says he's finally in a place he never thought he'd reach again. "I'm singing — I've been singing every day. I feel so good about my voice," he said. "This might be one of the better moments."