Who Is Maxx Morando? Biography, Age, Career & Miley Cyrus

Quick Answer: Maxx Morando is a 27-year-old Los Angeles-based drummer, best known as the drummer for rock band Liily and as the fiancé of pop star Miley Cyrus. Born November 16, 1998, Morando got his start with The Regrettes before joining Liily. He and Cyrus got engaged in December 2025 after meeting on a blind date in late 2021.

Quick Facts Table

Long before he was splashed across tabloid front pages, Maxx Morando was just a kid in Hollywood with a pair of drumsticks and a whole lot of ambition. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he built his musical foundation one beat at a time — playing in bands, touring the country, and quietly developing the kind of raw, controlled power behind the kit that turns heads in serious rock circles.

Then came Miley Cyrus. A blind date. A Gucci runway show. And one of the most closely watched relationships in pop culture.

But there’s far more to Morando than the celebrity headlines. He’s a working musician with a genuine artistic legacy — one that started well before he ever made the pages of People or Vogue. This is the full story: his early life, his career, his inspirations, and yes, his love story with one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

Who Is Maxx Morando?

Maxx Morando is an American musician and drummer, born November 16, 1998, in Los Angeles, California. He is currently 27 years old and a Scorpio. He is best known as the drummer for Los Angeles rock band Liily, and as the fiancé of global pop superstar Miley Cyrus.

Morando grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by music. He has a sister named Bella. Beyond that, the Morando family has largely stayed out of the public eye — a quiet contrast to the very public world Maxx now inhabits. His net worth has not been publicly confirmed.

Early Life and Education: Where It All Began

Morando’s musical education started at School of Rock in Hollywood, California — a real-world version of the program made famous by the 2003 Jack Black film. It’s exactly the kind of place where serious young musicians sharpen their instincts, perform live on real stages, and find their people.

At School of Rock, Morando did exactly that. He met the bandmates who would go on to form The Regrettes, a band that would become his first major stepping stone in the music industry. The connection between those early rehearsal rooms and what came next is a direct one — Morando didn’t stumble into music. He chased it.

Career: From The Regrettes to Liily

The Regrettes: The Band That Started It All

Morando joined The Regrettes around 2015, when the band was still finding its feet as a teenage indie-punk outfit out of Los Angeles. The Regrettes had a sharp, energetic sound — punchy guitar riffs, attitude-forward vocals, and the kind of youthful urgency that gets blogs talking fast.

On January 13, 2017, the band released their debut album, Feel Your Feelings Fool! — a record that earned them solid critical attention and introduced them to a wider audience hungry for something with genuine edge. The album’s release was followed by touring, including a stint supporting Sleigh Bells, which put The Regrettes in front of larger, more diverse crowds.

Morando’s tenure with The Regrettes ran until approximately 2018. The split was amicable, and the experience gave him something invaluable: real road miles and a reputation as a tight, instinctive drummer.

Liily: The Current Chapter

After leaving The Regrettes, Morando found his next home with Liily, a Los Angeles-based rock band with a heavier, more expansive sound. Liily has steadily built a devoted following in the indie rock space, known for their high-energy live performances and the kind of guitar-driven music that feels both classic and current.

As Liily’s drummer, Morando has continued to develop his craft. He’s the engine behind the band’s sound — and those who’ve seen Liily live consistently point to the rhythm section as one of the band’s greatest strengths. In a Modern Drummer interview, Morando cited Keith Moon and Phil Collins as his primary inspirations — a pairing that says a lot. Moon for chaos and personality; Collins for precision and feel. The combination is Morando in a sentence.

Maxx Morando and Miley Cyrus: How Did They Meet?

The origin story is, genuinely, a good one. Maxx Morando and Miley Cyrus met on a blind date — a detail that Cyrus herself confirmed in an interview with British Vogue published in May 2023. The setup: mutual friends who figured the two might hit it off. They were right.

The couple’s first public appearance came at the Gucci Love Parade in November 2021, a star-studded runway event held on Hollywood Boulevard. At that point, neither Cyrus nor Morando confirmed anything officially. They didn’t need to. The photos did the talking.

By New Year’s Eve 2021, they were photographed together in Miami — the kind of holiday sighting that sends the internet into full speculation mode.

Maxx Morando and Miley Cyrus: Full Relationship Timeline

March 2022 — Us Weekly reported that Cyrus was in a “new” relationship, with sources pointing to Morando. The couple had been keeping things relatively quiet, but the whisper network was clearly working.

April 2022 — Any remaining ambiguity evaporated. Morando and Cyrus were photographed sharing a kiss on a West Hollywood sidewalk. Confirmed. Done. The internet reacted accordingly.

October 2022 — A source told E! News that the relationship had become “very serious.” By this point, Morando had been spotted at Cyrus’s events and the two had been photographed together multiple times. It was no longer a question of whether they were together — it was a question of where things were headed.

May 2023 — Cyrus opened up publicly for the first time about how the relationship began. In her British Vogue interview, she revealed the blind date backstory that had been the subject of so much speculation. It was a rare, candid moment from a star who typically guards her private life closely.

February 2024 — The Grammys — Cyrus won her first Grammy Award for Record of the Year for “Flowers.” During her acceptance speech, she referred to her “love” — a reference widely understood to be Morando. It was a quiet, significant moment: a global pop star, on one of music’s biggest stages, acknowledging the person she’d chosen.

February 2024 — Around the same time as the Grammys, People reported that Morando had moved in with Cyrus. The next chapter, officially begun.

December 1, 2025 — Cyrus attended the premiere of Avatar: Fire and Ash wearing a diamond ring on that finger. Cameras caught it. Fans noticed immediately.

December 2, 2025 — Page Six broke the engagement news. Maxx Morando and Miley Cyrus were engaged.

December 3, 2025 — Appearing on Good Morning America, Cyrus confirmed the engagement and shared the details herself: Morando had proposed during a trip to Asia. The ring? A 14-karat gold band. Romantic, personal, and — much like Morando himself — a little outside the expected.

Musical Inspirations and Personal Life

Morando has spoken openly about the drummers who shaped him. In his Modern Drummer interview, he named Keith Moon — the legendary, thunderous force behind The Who — and Phil Collins — the technically precise, melodically gifted Genesis drummer — as his biggest inspirations.

The pairing reveals something about how Morando approaches the instrument. Moon was spectacle and instinct. Collins was craft and structure. Morando’s playing sits somewhere in that space: expressive enough to be exciting, controlled enough to be reliable.

Outside of music, Morando maintains a relatively private life. His sister Bella is one of the few personal connections he has spoken about publicly. He and Cyrus have largely kept the details of their daily life away from social media — a deliberate, refreshing choice in an era where celebrity relationships are often performed rather than lived.

What’s Next for Maxx Morando?

With Liily continuing to grow their audience and an engagement to one of the most famous women in the world, Morando finds himself at an interesting crossroads. He’s built a genuine career in music on his own terms — long before the celebrity spotlight found him — and there’s every indication he intends to keep it that way.

He’s a serious drummer with serious influences who got serious about his craft early. The relationship with Cyrus brought him a new, much larger audience. What he does with that attention, musically, will be the real story worth watching.

Frequently Asked Questions About Maxx Morando

Emma Clarke

Emma Clarke is a content writer at Gaukurinn.is, specializing in celebrity news, pop culture, movies, and music. With a strong focus on accuracy and trending topics, she creates engaging and well-researched articles that keep readers informed and entertained.
Emma follows trusted sources and editorial standards to ensure content is reliable, relevant, and up to date. Her goal is to deliver clear, valuable information that readers can trust.