Miley Cyrus sings “The Climb” to honor Las Vegas shooting victims

In order to promote her new album, Younger Now, on October 2nd, Miley Cyrus kicked off “Miley Week” on The Tonight Show. However, after the largest mass shooting in U.S. history occurred on October 1st at the Route 91 country music festival, the artist changed her plans, and Cyrus performed “The Climb” on the show as a tribute to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.

When Fallon interviewed her, Cyrus explained why she chose to sing “The Climb” for the first time in five or six years (not including her recent performance on Instagram Live). She cited the specific lyrics, “The struggles I’m facing/The chances I’m taking/Sometimes might knock me down, but/No, I’m not breaking/I may not know it/But these are the moments that I’m gonna remember most” and told Fallon:

"The moments we're gonna remember most aren't being pulled apart by evil, but coming together through love."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Jkv_K_nlk?feature=oembed

So to close out the show, Cyrus sang “The Climb” from Hannah Montana: The Movie to honor the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, which so far has resulted in nearly 60 deaths and over 500 casualties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agyTn10mW74?feature=oembed

As she wrote on Instagram:

"In honor of the lives lost , injured and affected by the tragic shooting in Vegas, @fallontonight & I dedicated this show to not only mourning this horrific event but using this platform to encourage unity , peace & hopefulness! So we started this week off with a song I haven't performed in years ... #TheClimb . These words mean more now to me than ever ... " Keep The Faith" ..... Sending love to ALL! Enjoy the show tonight & #MileyWeek .... hope we can make you smile even thru so much pain 💛 @happyhippiefdn

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZxFo11hEOr

She had also kicked off The Tonight Show by performing a cover of Dido’s “No Freedom” with Adam Sandler. Cyrus explained why the lyrics of that song particularly resonate with her in the aftermath of this shooting:

"When these tragic events happen, what is music if we can't go see our favorite artist perform because we're scared of violence? Or we're scared of losing someone that we love to go to a concert or to go see a film? And I think that right now, we're supposed to be the land of the free, but we can't have freedom if we're constantly living in fear."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t3nMsjDLVM?feature=oembed

"Never bow down to bullies, that's what my parents always said," she continued. "And to stand up for what's right. And I think just constantly share hope instead of encouraging any more fear."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZxGIyahfDi

Like many other musical artists, Cyrus spoke out about this horrific mass shooting — and she provided a positive message in these dark times.