Country music star Billy Ray Cyrus is a big believer in God's plan—in the divine destiny and hope that are part of His grand design. Fitting, then, that he and his wife would name their daughter Destiny Hope.

Today, that name seems almost prophetic in view of the Cyrus family saga. Following in her father's successful footsteps, Destiny Hope—better known by her nickname, "Miley"—has become quite the phenom herself, starring as the title character in the Emmy-nominated Disney Channel hit series Hannah Montana. The 15-year-old sensation is now about to wrap up a hugely popular 54-city concert tour.

Billy Ray, who plays Hannah's dad on the TV show, says his daughter's success is all "part of God's plan" for Miley, so nicknamed because she was always "smiley" as a young child.

There's much to smile about in the Cyrus household these days, not just because of the show's huge success, but also because of the uncanny father/daughter parallels—all a part of God's plan, if you ask them both.

Billy Ray Cyrus burst onto the music scene in 1992, selling 14 million copies of his debut album Some Gave All, propelled by the album's mega-hit single "Achy Breaky Heart." With his first album at number one for 17 weeks, he continues to hold the record for a debut artist. He has since released nine albums, including his latest, Home at Last; starred on the PAX-TV series Doc; and enthralled audiences on ABC's popular Dancing With The Stars show in 2007, making it to the eighth week of competition as one of the series' final top five celebrity contestants.

Mirroring her father's overnight success, Miley's Hannah Montana has become an instant smash hit. The series premiere scored record ratings for the Disney Channel with a whopping 5.4 million viewers. It was nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Children's Program category. And Miley herself was named Favorite Actress in both the Kids' Choice and Teen Choice awards in 2007.

On the show, she plays Miley Stewart, a typical high school kid with a not-so-typical secret dual identity—pop star Hannah Montana. Like her dad, Miley's debut Hannah Montana CD made history in 2006 as the first TV soundtrack to enter the Billboard chart at number one. She followed in 2007 with a two-disc set, Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus, which soared to number one in its first release week, making her the youngest recording artist ever to have two number one albums in less than a year. And last fall, she was in the news when tickets to her 54-city "Best of Both Worlds" concert tour were quickly gobbled up by brokers and scalpers and then sold at greatly inflated prices—mostly to mothers who had promised their young daughters a ticket to the show.

After Billy ended his stint on Doc in 2004, he vowed never to do another television series. The show filmed for weeks at a time in Toronto, leading to difficult separations from wife, Tish, his six children, and the family farm near Nashville.

"But you know the old joke, the best way to make God laugh is tell Him your plans? God had something else in store for us," Billy now says. "Not only did Doc's 88 episodes give me a wealth of experience as an actor, Miley did several appearances on the show and [being in Toronto] allowed her to take lessons with some great [acting] coaches. What that did was prepare Miley for her big chance."

Her acting appetite whetted, Miley began to seek out other roles. Her dad says she was told she was "too young" the first time she auditioned for Hannah Montana.

"But as I read the script, I knew it wasn't going to proceed without Miley. It was just one of those inner voice things you feel inside," he explains. "Six or eight months later, Disney calls back and says, 'We'd like to take another look at that Cyrus kid,' and she flew back out to California."