By KELLI KENNEDY

Associated Press

MIAMI BEACH — In a bizarre and emotionally transparent performance, Miley Cyrus mocked her own music, opened up about her dark year and belted out some Led Zeppelin. Oh yeah, and she smoked pot onstage.

Wearing a silver metallic Cleopatra wig and bright turquoise eye shadow, Cyrus kicked off a private, poolside show at the Raleigh Hotel in South Beach singing a duet of Super Freak with a topless woman. Cyrus was among the top-billed acts during the star-studded week of the prestigious Art Basel Miami Beach.

The 22-year-old singer performed mostly covers, including Led Zeppelin, the Beatles’ Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Johnny Cash, telling the audience she understood they were serious about real art and probably weren’t fans of her pop-music style.

“You thought (Art Basel) was a
respected place where you could escape me,” said Cyrus, who talked about her difficult year after her twerking performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards and the death of her dog.

The former Disney star said it took her to a dark place and made her realize many things she was doing seemed meaningless.

“This year has constantly challenged me, and that’s why I started doing art,” she said before launching into a song she wrote after her friend’s cat spoke to her in a dream. She also played the macabre song on the piano, abruptly banging on the keys at the end, saying she was sick of talking about death and wanted to move on to something fun.

Later in the show, she donned a massive rainbow with a cutout for her head, while two other performers wore mushroom costumes.

“Usually I don’t smoke weed and drink, well that’s a lie … usually I don’t smoke weed and drink on show days, but I felt like it was fine in Miami,” said Cyrus.