:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(742x223:744x225)/paris-hilton-miley-cyrus-b15772f085ea4a9eb9db5cc7da279fe5.jpg "Miley Cyrus inspired Paris Hilton to make a new album after 18 years (exclusive)")
Without Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton’s new album might never have come about.
The 43-year-old businesswoman and musician released her second album, Infinite symbolon September 6 – more than 18 years after their debut in 2006, Pariswhich resulted in their most famous hit “Stars Are Blind”.
“I’ve always loved music. It’s always been one of my biggest passions,” Hilton tells PEOPLE in the current issue. “But in the years since my first album, I’ve just been busy building my empire and working on the million projects I do across all my different companies.”
However, a phone call ultimately led to Simple life Star back in the studio. “When Miley asked me to come on New Year’s Eve to surprise everyone and sing ‘Stars Are Blind’ with her and Sia, it was so magical to be on stage and feel those pop star vibes,” she recalls of her appearance on Cyrus’ NBC special celebrating the start of 2023.
The next day, Hilton flew back to Los Angeles with 48-year-old Sia and had an insightful conversation.
Vijat Mohindra/NBC via Getty
“She looked at me and said, ‘You were incredible last night. You were born to be a pop star. Why haven’t you released another album?'” Hilton recalls, noting that she explained her busy schedule to the “Chandelier” singer, who then offered to record an album with her. “I was like, ‘Sure.'”
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Sia, executive producer Infinite symbolquickly sent Hilton “60 songs she had written” and wanted her to listen to them.
The first song the mother of two recorded was “Adored,” a romantic pop song that closes the new album.. Through this experience, Hilton says, “I realized how much I miss making music.”
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Hilton then instructed her team to make music the top priority of her career and spent the next year and a half creating the album, which features collaborations with Sia, Meghan Trainor, Rina Sawayama and Maria Becerra.
“I’m just so grateful that I agreed to do ‘Stars Are Blind’ with Miley that night because that was the beginning of this journey for me towards this second album,” she says. “I couldn’t be more proud of how it all turned out.”
For more on Paris Hilton, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
