Miley Cyrus and Pharrell Reunite For First Time in a Decade on ‘Doctor (Work It Out)’
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The musical seeds that Miley Cyrus and Pharrell Williams planted more than a decade ago are in full bloom on their newly-released single “Doctor (Work It Out).” The song, which was first created in 2012 around the time that Cyrus was working on her 2013 album Bangerz, leaked online in 2017, but the new and improved version marks their first official collaboration since 2014.
“We just knew it was early. We just knew we was on something that felt good to us, but just because the iPad came out when it came out doesn’t mean that it was Steve Jobs and his team’s idea only a year before,” Pharrell told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about why the song has finally been released after over a decade. “We don’t know if he was having those types of conversations in the ’70s or having those kinds of like pontifications in the ’80s. You just never know. And there’s a moment where you feel like you feel the stickiness in something, but you may feel that the environment is not ready for it.”
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The song released alongside a video featuring Cyrus in a shimmering dress and blowout, echoing her mic-dropping Grammys performance of “Flowers” earlier this month. “I could be your doctor/And I could be your nurse/I think I see the problem It’s only gonna get worse,” sings the star on the track’s chorus. “A midnight medication/Just show me where it hurts/I need to rock you, baby/Before your body bursts.”
“We just believe so much in timing and in everything happening when it’s supposed to. And around the Grammys, Pharrell and I were talking about putting the song out, and it just felt like it was so serendipitous, and there were so many alignments and so many moments that made me know that now was the perfect time,” Cyrus shared. “And then sometimes things in our past make more sense in our present than they ever did then. And so this song, I think the nature, the celebration, the feeling, especially with the video, the joy, the dancing, the letting go, it’s what this song really always needed.”
She added: “And I don’t think I could have delivered that at that time, and I know I couldn’t have because I didn’t or I would’ve. And so this has just worked out. It completely embodies my spirit and my essence at this exact moment. And this song is really just kind of fun, and it’s not too heavy or heady or deep, and that’s kind of right where I am and my nature at this moment. And so it just feels really reflective of where I’m at, and that’s really what my music always does.”
Pharrell and Cyrus last teamed up on “Come Get It Bae” from the producer’s 2014 solo album GIRL. But their collaborative relationship began long before that. “I’m sitting in the same kitchen looking at the kitchen table that I met Pharrell at. And this was probably when I was maybe 17 or 18,” Cyrus explained. “Pharrell came to my house for a meeting and to ask me what I was up to now that I was off of my TV show and what his vision was for me. And it was at this kitchen table that I’m sitting at right now.”
Pharrell added: “I’ll never forget just meeting her at a time where people had pegged her to be one thing particularly. She was Hannah Montana at the time, and she was growing up and really wanting to experience life no matter how far the precipice was, that was her. And I just remember the world, well, not the world, but maybe the gatekeepers, just not understanding it … We did a couple songs that went on her Bangerz album, but then this one was like, this was always fine wine to me. This was Petrus.”
Bangerz, which launched one of the most memorable pop eras of the 2010s, featured four songs, including a few bonus tracks, that were written and produced with Pharrell. He helmed Cyrus’ country throw down with Nelly on “4×4” and “#GetItRight” on the album’s standard edition and the deluxe tracks “Rooting for My Baby” and “On My Own.”
Pharrell first premiered “Doctor (Work It Out)” in January during the Louis Vuitton Men’s Fall-Winter 2024 Collection as models navigated a maze-like runway at Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris. In 2023, he joined the luxury brand as Men’s Creative Director, succeeding the late Virgil Abloh.
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