With the exception of President Clinton, there's probably not a man in America whose life has changed more in the last year than Billy Ray Cyrus.
A year ago, he was a struggling country music singer, touring Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio in a broken down old bread truck.Today, he's on top of the music world, thanks to a little song called "Achy Breaky Heart." His first album, "Some Gave All," has sold 7 million copies and spent 17 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts - a record for debut albums. He's been a winner at both the American Music Award and the Country Music Association, and he's been nominated for four Grammys.
And he's got a prime-time special this coming Wednesday on ABC (9 p.m., Ch. 4).
Despite the fact that he's got a few million dollars tucked away and seemingly a few million female admirers, he says he's still just the same ol' guy.
"I've never let anyone tell me what to wear, and what to do, and what to sing, and how to sing it," he said. "I just want to make sure that I stay me, Billy Ray Cyrus from Flatwoods, Kentucky."
And, as a matter of fact, he's surprisingly low-key and unassuming offstage. He brought his Daddy with him to Los Angeles to meet with ABC executives and the press. He's prone to calling people "sir" and "ma'am," he answers even the silliest of questions with quiet conviction, and he's self-confident without a trace of arrogance.
About the only sign that he's at all caught up in the Billy Ray Cyrus phenomenon is his tendency to refer to himself in the third person.
"You gotta keep in mind that I am exactly now what I've been for the previous decade," Cyrus said of his seemingly overnight success and his sex symbol image. "I dress now the way that I dressed then. Ever since I was in high school I cut the sleeves of 'em (his shirts).
"I always like to wear tennis shoes and so I'm comfortable in that and that's what I perform in and that's just what I do.
In other words, the Billy Ray you see is not the result of some public relations campaign. It's just Billy Ray.
"There were those people who said, `Billy Ray, you buy you a big ol' cowboy hat and put on these boots and them Wrangler jeans, son, and I'll make you a star.' You know, and I looked at that and it never was me," Cyrus said. "So I am to this very day exactly what I've always been, Billy Ray Cyrus from Flatwoods, Kentucky."
His "instant stardom" was really anything but. Like so many overnight successes, his took years.
"I was 20 years old and I just felt compelled to buy a guitar, like that's what I was supposed to do with my life," said Cyrus, now 31. "That night I started a band and three weeks later I was playing jobs and three months later I was making my living playing music in these little clubs."
He played lots of little clubs, eking out a living. (In his TV special he returns to one of those spots - the Ragtime Lounge in West Virginia.)
He used to go to Nashville and search through the yellow pages, calling any number that sounded like it was related to the music business.
"Usually it'd end up being something funky. Sometimes maybe the janitor or maybe somebody that has developed some get-rich-quick scheme," Cyrus said.
He spent two years of failure in California, where "for months I nearly starved to death" until he got a job as a car dealer, overcoming "my abilities to not be able to change the oil in my car and not know the difference between an Oldsmobile and a Pontiac and a Cadillac."
So, while he doesn't often openly display any resentment, he's obviously not happy when he's looked upon as an overnight, one-hit wonder.
"You know, a lot of people have judged my by my looks and things like that. And I compare that to people who judge a book by its cover," Cyrus said. "And Billy Ray Cyrus, you just can't judge me by my cover, because there's a lot more to this man than what you see on the outside. And I wanted my (television) special to be a way to show people that there is a lot more to Billy Ray Cyrus than the outside of the cover."
His resentment toward the criticism he's received did come out in the open at the American Music Awards, where he won the Favorite Country Single award for "Achy Breaky Heart."
After expressing the requisite thank-yous, he declared, "For anyone who doesn't like `Achy Breaky Heart' - here's a quarter. Call someone who cares."
(Cyrus was blatantly mocking Travis Tritt, who criticized "Achy" - and who sang "Here's a Quarter.")
Off camera, Cyrus is considerably more low-key in his defense of "Achy."
"You know what my favorite thing is? The people that hate it know every word to it," Cyrus said. "No matter what, whether you love it or hate it, you just can't help but sing it."
There's no doubt where Cyrus stands on the subject of that song.
"I love `Achy Breaky Heart,' man. I do," he said. "I love that song. And I will sing it until the day that my heart stops beating."
One thing Cyrus has learned in the past 11 months is that wild rumors and criticism come hand-in-hand with fame and fortune.
"No, I was never a Chippendale's dancer," he said, addressing that oft-repeated rumor. "I think the whole thought of it is kind of funny."
Cyrus said he's been rather disconcerted when told of some of the "ludicrous" things that have been written and broadcast about him.
"But, to be honest with you, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to those things that people say about me," he said. "You've got to keep in mind that I've made music for over 12 years. And if I would have listened to people who were negative toward me, I would have quit playing music a long time ago.
"Now, I've always believed that you should focus on your dreams, and focus on the things you want to happen in your life.
"I just don't pay a whole lot of attention to the things that people think that Billy Ray Cyrus should be, or the things that they think he should be. I am what I am. I'm Billy Ray Cyrus from Flatwoods, Kentucky."
He's even thought ahead to the day when his mega-stardom ends.
"I realize that I'm living on the edge of the planet. That I'm living on the edge of life," he said. "And when you live on the edge, there's only so long that you can stay on the edge, and eventually you must fall off. So I'm not afraid of that. I realize that it's inevitable."
And, hopefully, he'll still be just Billy Ray Cyrus from Flatwoods, Kentucky.