3 years after releasing "Flowers," Miley Cyrus sang new lyrics at the Hollywood Bowl. Here are the song’s rumored Liam Hemsworth references.

As Business Insider previously reported, Cyrus and Hemsworth met on the set of “The Last Song,” which was released in 2010, and dated on and off for several years. The couple married in 2018 and divorced a year later. The split was finalized in January 2020.

While Cyrus hasn’t confirmed that “Flowers” is about her relationship with Hemsworth, the single’s release date, lyrics, and other hidden details offer a few clues to the song’s meaning.

The buzz around “Flowers” began when fans noticed its release date.

The single dropped on January 13 — Hemsworth’s 33rd birthday — a detail that was not lost on Cyrus’ fans. 

“She definitely didn’t lie when she said she’s got nerve,” one user tweeted. 

In “When I Was Your Man,” Mars sings that he wishes he “bought you flowers, and held your hand.”

Although Mars isn’t credited as a songwriter on “Flowers,” Cyrus sings “I can buy myself flowers,” and “I can hold my own hand” in a similar tune to Mars’ hit. 

According to Billboard, some fans have speculated that Hemsworth dedicated Mars’ song to Cyrus during their first engagement — though those theories are unconfirmed.

“We were good, we were gold/ Kind of dream that can’t be sold/ We were right till we weren’t/ Built a home and watched it burn,” Cyrus sings in the opening verse. 

According to Us Weekly, the fire metaphor could be referring to the home Cyrus shared with Hemsworth, which burned down during the 2018 Woolsey Fire.

Cyrus has said that the loss of the couple’s Malibu home is partially what led her and Hemsworth to get married. 

In 2019, while attending the Vanity Fair Oscars party, an Access Hollywood reporter asked Cyrus and Hemsworth what a dance number would look like between the couple.

When Cyrus began dancing on Hemsworth, her then-husband, he shut it down, saying, “We’re not doing this. Not on the carpet.”

One Twitter user put that video side by side with a promotional clip Cyrus posted on the platform, in which she appears to do a similar dance move — while the lyrics “I can love me better” play in the background.

After selling out shows at the Hollywood Bowl in October 2026, Cyrus changed the pre-chorus lyrics to “Flowers.”

In the original version, Cyrus sings: “I didn’t wanna leave you/I didn’t wanna fight/Started to cry, but then remembered I,” before belting out the chorus.

This past weekend, however, Cyrus changed that to: “I didn’t wanna leave you (but I had to)/I didn’t wanna fight (but we did)/Started to cry, but then remembered I sold out the Hollywood Bowl.”

Cyrus has ad-libbed her hit single before: At the 2024 Grammys, she sang, “Started to cry, but then remembered I just won my first Grammy!”

Fans took to social media to applaud Cyrus’ lyric change, with one YouTube commenter saying they “love how she’s filling it in with different achievements.”

Cyrus also paid tribute to Dolly Parton, her late godmother, during the concert, breaking down in tears as she recalled memories of Parton. Cyrus then performed Parton’s hit song “Jolene.”

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in January 2023 and was most recently updated in October 2026.