Who is Maxx Morando?: Drummer Linked to Miley Cyrus – Hollywood Life
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Miley Cyrus was spotted out on a rare date night with her boyfriend, Maxx Morando, in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The 31-year-old pop star was photographed with the 25-year-old Liily drummer at a Future Islands concert held at the Shrine Auditorium. Their last public outing was on August 31, when Cyrus attended Morando’s concert at the Roxy in West Hollywood.
Cyrus and Morando were first romantically linked in July 2022 when they were seen together in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the Daily Mail. A report published on March 1, 2022, by Entertainment Tonight added that the couple had been quietly dating for some time. “Miley likes the fact that they are low-key as a couple and is just focused on doing her thing and being around people that make her happy, and Maxx does that,” the report stated. The couple shared an intimate moment at Cyrus’ Grammys table on February 4, 2024, after she won her first two Grammys for “Flowers”—a song that has since been hit with a lawsuit alleging that parts of it were lifted from Bruno Mars‘ 2012 hit “When I Was Your Man.”
Get to know more about Morando here!
Morando Plays Multiple Instruments
“I’m Maxx Morando,” a then-18-year-old Maxx wrote for Modern Drummer in 2016. The musician said he had been “playing drums since I was eight and joined the School of Rock in Hollywood. I met some of my bandmates there, three of whom are Sage, Genessa, and Lydia of the Regrettes. My main influences are Phil Collins, Keith Moon, and Jack Bevan.”
Although he is best known for playing drums, he can also play guitar, as he demonstrated during an Instagram Live video from 2020.
Morando Played in the Band The Regrettes
Before joining the four-person Los Angeles rock band Liily, Morando played drums for the punk rock band The Regrettes from 2015 to 2018. Morando met his bandmates Lydia Night, Sage Chavis, and Genessa Gariano while attending music school. The group released their debut EP, Hey!, in 2015, followed by their debut album, Feel Your Feelings Fool!, in 2017.
“We’re excited that the incredible Mike Elizondo produced our record,” he told Modern Drummer at the time. “The recording process was extremely fun and taught me so much. We recorded live, straight to tape, all in the same room, all at the same time. I was super focused on getting the best take every time as I couldn’t go back and re-do little parts. But because of this, I would focus too much and start to stiffen up and not play the way I wanted. After we did a few songs, I started to loosen up, and just played how I’d play live. It taught me to just play drums like I usually would, comfortably. It brought out some really great takes.”
Morando left the group in 2018, after the release of their Attention Seeker EP. Maxx then teamed with singer Dylan Nash, guitarist Sam De La Torre, and bassist Charlie Anastasis to form Liily. “We all knew each other and ran in the same circle of friends,” he told Soundazed. “Some of us went to school together, and some of us have known each other since we were around seven.” The group released their debut single, “Toro,” in late 2018.
Described as a “riffy, aggressive alt-rock combo from Los Angeles,” Liily continued to build a buzz over the following years. They released their debut album, TV or Not TV, in 2021.
Morando Is an Artist and Designer
During an interview with Vogue in September, Cyrus revealed that Morando helped create one of her festival looks alongside designer Shane Kastl.
“This look is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between two of my favorite emerging artists, Maxx Morando and Shane Kastl,” she told the publication about one of her outfits. “Their collaboration is the perfect example of sustainability becoming the next fashion phase, and it proves that anything can be reinvented, which resonates with me deeply.”
In September 2021, Maxx shared Miley’s post to his Instagram Story “Collabed with @shane_kastl to make this look!” Maxx captioned the Story. The look in question was a colorful hodgepodge. Miley wore white short-shorts and a jacket that had different colored sleeves. Both pieces of her outfit were covered in vibrant painted designs.
Morando and Cyrus Met on a Blind Date
In a cover story interview with British Vogue, the “Adore You” singer shared how she met fellow musician Maxx Morando.
“We got put on a blind date,” said Cyrus. “Well, it was blind for me and not really for him,” she clarified. “I thought, ‘The worst that can happen is I leave.'”
Morando and Cyrus Live Together
In February 2024, a source told PEOPLE that Cyrus and Morando are living together.
“She is very happy with him,” the insider shared. “Everyone loves Maxx. He’s a great guy. He’s private and doesn’t like being in the press. It’s been good for her.”