MTV has announced a last-minute surprise addition to their 2019 Video Music Awards lineup: Miley Cyrus.
The 26-year-old pop star will give the first live performance of her new song “Slide Away” onstage at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday night. The public appearance will be her first since it was revealed that Cyrus has split with Liam Hemsworth, her husband of less than a year, earlier this month.
“Liam and Miley have agreed to separate at this time,” began a statement from the couple’s rep, exclusively obtained by PEOPLE on Aug. 10. “Ever-evolving, changing as partners and individuals, they have decided this is what’s best while they both focus on themselves and careers. They still remain dedicated parents to all of their animals they share while lovingly taking this time apart. Please respect their process and privacy.”
Check out PEOPLE’s full MTV VMAs coverage to get the latest news on one of music’s biggest nights.
Released days after the break-up became public, the new song gave Cyrus the chance to open up about the breakdown of their union.
“Once upon it was paradise, once upon a time I was paralyzed / I think I’m gonna miss these harbor lights / But it’s time to let it go,” she opens the song. “Once upon a time it was made for us, woke up one day and it turned to dust,” Cyrus continues. “Baby, we were found, but now we’re lost / So it’s time to let it go.”
Cyrus goes on to make a drug and alcohol reference, singing, “I want my house in the hills / don’t want the whisky and pills / I don’t give up easily but I don’t think I’m down.”
“Move on, we’re not 17 / I’m not who I used to be,” Cyrus adds. “You said that everything changed / You’re right I’m grown now.”
Days after the song’s release, the 29-year-old Australian actor filed for divorce.
According to The Blast, Hemsworth — who has hired famed Hollywood divorce attorney Laura Wasser — cited “irreconcilable differences.” The pair signed a prenuptial agreement ahead of their marriage, so a smooth divorce is expected, PEOPLE confirms.
Reps for Hemsworth and Cyrus did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“She didn’t expect it and is a bit disappointed, but she is still doing well and has obviously moved on as well,” a Cyrus insider previously told PEOPLE of the singer.
Despite the breakup, the insider says Cyrus has fond memories of their nearly 10-year romance.
“What she and Liam had for a long time was very special,” the Cyrus insider adds. “It’s just hard for her to think that she will never have this again with Liam. There are really so many things that she loves about him.”
The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Monday, Aug. 26, at 8 p.m. ET.
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