Miley Cyrus latest album has suffered a historic collapse on the charts, underscoring the widening gap between media hype, progressive celebrity politics, and what ordinary listeners are actually willing to buy.
According to Western Journal, Bass Persuades debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 but then plunged to No. 157 in its second week, the steepest drop Variety could identify for an album immediately following a chart-topping debut. The records title track managed only a modest peak at No. 35 on the Hot 100, and critics noted that the rest of the album failed to deliver the dance-heavy energy the single seemed to promise, raising questions about whether the projects initial success was more marketing than merit.
Bass Persuades was heavily pushed as a major new release, but the numbers behind its debut tell a more fragile story. Parade reported that the album opened with roughly 61,000 equivalent units a razor-thin margin of only 70 units over Ella Langleys Dandelion after Atlantic Records flooded the market with 16 vinyl variants, nine CD versions, six digital download options, and even a cassette, while also slashing the digital price.
Industry projections had initially placed the album outside the top five, suggesting that the No. 1 bow owed more to aggressive packaging and discounting than to organic demand. When Billboard released the top 10 for the following week and Bass Persuades was nowhere to be found, the full chart later revealed the stunning collapse to No. 157, as reported by Variety.
Despite the shaky commercial foundation, Cyrus had been speaking as though her fan base and future plans were already secure. Appearing on Apple Musics Zane Lowe show three weeks before the chart crash, she described two Hollywood Bowl dates, scheduled for Oct. 16 and 18, as a kind of dress rehearsal for a longer-term residency close to home.
She emphasized the convenience of the arrangement, telling Lowe that her bed would be only about a 10-minute drive from the venue after each show, according to People. The strategy was clear: rather than touring widely, she would plant herself in one of the nations most liberal entertainment hubs and expect fans to come to her.
The presale response appeared to validate that approach, at least on the surface. Nearly 1.5 million people entered the presale queue for those two nights, People and Entertainment Weekly reported, a figure that dwarfs the roughly 35,000 seats available across both shows at the 17,500-capacity Bowl.
Both concerts sold out in under 10 minutes, Variety noted, marking Cyrus first major live dates since a Mexico City festival performance in November 2022. The scarcity of tickets, combined with years of limited touring, helped create a frenzy that did not necessarily translate into sustained album consumption once the initial excitement faded.
Lowe pointed out that, at that rate of demand, she would need something like 80 Hollywood Bowl shows to accommodate everyone in the queue. Cyrus responded that this had been the plan all along, declaring, Ive learned now through the queue that my calculations are correct, and people will come to me. I dont need to drive to you, a remark Page Six quoted in fuller form as, Proven. That was a test. I win.
That self-assured tone fits a broader pattern in which celebrity entertainers, especially those aligned with the cultural left, assume their audience will follow them regardless of how overtly political or dismissive they become toward large segments of the country. Cyrus has long been outspoken in her contempt for conservatives and for President Donald Trump in particular, using her platform not merely for music but for partisan messaging.
After Super Tuesday in 2016, she posted a screenshot of the primary results and announced she was going to move out da country, the Washington Examiner reported. She labeled Trump a f***ing nightmare, shared a photo of herself in tears, and concluded, Honestly f*** this s*** I am moving if this is my president! I dont say things I dont mean!
Of course, she did not move, a familiar pattern among progressive celebrities who threaten to abandon the United States whenever voters choose a Republican but never follow through once the cameras move on. By 2019, in a Vanity Fair interview, she was already walking back the rhetoric, calling the talk of leaving something we all said and did not mean, then asking rhetorically whether she would feel proud running away from, and leaving everyone else here to live under, a completely racist, sexist, hateful a**hole.
She stayed, and the same country she once vowed to flee is now the one whose music charts have recorded one of the most dramatic second-week falls in recent memory for her work. For all the industry spin, the numbers suggest that no amount of media praise, political posturing, or elaborate product bundling can force listeners to keep embracing a project they do not genuinely want, a reality that remains stubbornly resistant to celebrity ego and progressive narrative alike.
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