[4] In 2020, during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Cyrus officially received a plaque with an RIAA Diamond certification for "Party in the U.S.A.",[5] making it one of the few songs in history to reach this milestone.

The music video for "Party in the U.S.A.", directed by Chris Applebaum, pays tribute to the 1978 film Grease and Cyrus's parents' courting days.

Although co-writer Jessie J originally decided not to record "Party in the U.S.A." after writing it, she did eventually, among various other artists, perform a cover version of the song.

[8] She collaborated with songwriters and producers Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly in her first writing session, where "Party in the U.S.A." was conceived with the intention of being performed by Jessie J.

[11] In order to please audiences, Dr. Luke, Kelly and Jessie J fixated on composing a fun, upbeat song that narrated reflections of Cyrus's personality.

[15] "Party in the U.S.A." was chosen as the lead single from The Time of Our Lives, as Cyrus thought personnel were "picking up on it", although she did not expect for it to be commercially successful.

[21] The song's instrumentation includes a "clash between feathery jazz guitar chords and a booming synth bassline serving as hook".

Music wrote, "Fortunately for Cyrus, [the other songs from The Time of Our Lives] flee your brain cells within seconds of their final chords, which means you're more likely to remember the breezily brilliant hit 'Party in the U.S.A.'"[26] Mikael Wood of New York City's Time Out magazine described the song as a "killer tune [...] which proves that Miley makes for a much better rapper than you might expect".

[27] Heather Phares of AllMusic selected the track as one of the EPs best, describing it as a frothy party anthem suitable for Cyrus's alias, Hannah Montana.

[29] Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly decided that "Party in the U.S.A." was Cyrus's bouncy attempt at urban music, since she had previously transitioned into other markets.

After successfully tackling dance and country formats and delivering one of the year's strongest ballads ('The Climb'), Cyrus continues to show off her impressive range.

"[22] "Party in the U.S.A." debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending August 29, 2009, due to the sale of over 226,000 digital downloads,[33] thus becoming the fastest-selling single released by Hollywood Records.

[54] It received lower commercial success throughout other regions of Europe, becoming a top 40 hit in Austria,[55] Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia),[56][57] Czech Republic,[citation needed] Denmark,[58] Spain,[59] and Sweden.

In the scene, Travolta exits from a car and walks over to a jungle gym, where he sits on a swing and performs the song as projections are displayed in the background.

Then, an American flag with 33 stars and 8 stripes unfurls before a freestanding wall in a vacant landscape, where she sings into a microphone as glitter confetti drops from above.

For the song's final refrain, Cyrus performs with four backup dancers on a stage, where the background plays the American flag and letters above it that spell "USA".

[62] Jocelyn Vena of MTV said, "The video is reminiscent of Cyrus' performance of the track on the Teen Choice Awards over the summer — minus the pole dancing.

Clothed by a tank top that revealed a portion of her bra, black hot pants, and leather boots, Cyrus and backup dancers appeared from a trailer.

[71] In 2009, Cyrus continued promotion for the single and The Time of Our Lives, performing "Party in the U.S.A." on NBC's Today[72] and VH1 Divas in the United States.

[79] Dave Paulson of The Tennessean reported that the song's performance at the November 25, 2009, concert at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee, "received cheers at Jonas Brothers–worthy decibel levels.

"[80] In 2010, while promoting her Can't Be Tamed album, Cyrus performed "Party in the U.S.A." at Rock in Rio concerts in Lisbon, Portugal,[citation needed] and Madrid, Spain,[81] the 1515 Club in Paris, France,[82] G-A-Y club in London,[citation needed] Good Morning America,[83] 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards,[84] in Toronto, Ontario.

Théoden Janes of The Charlotte Observer wrote, "She turned a verse of Party in the U.S.A. into a cool, cocky rap"[95] and John J. Moser of The Morning Call said that the performance resonated with the audience, even though Cyrus was lifted atop a huge pedestal.

[96] Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun wrote, "She went for a big ending, with fireworks, confetti, an elevating stage and dancers dressed as Abe Lincoln, Mount Rushmore, the Liberty Bell and The Statue of Liberty for the final older song Party in the U.S.A."[97] A critic from Nashville Scene wrote, "Party in the U.S.A. was sung by Miley and screamed back by the people in the crowd.

"[98] Cyrus also performed the song during the musical festival on June 21, 2014, Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium of London, in front of 80,000 people.

[101] Cyrus again performed the "Party In the U.S.A." along with "Edge of Midnight" and "Prisoner" on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest in Times Square on December 31, 2020.

Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone described it as "a sad, beautifully harmonized folk rendition of Miley Cyrus's 'Party in the U.S.A.' that manage[d] to make the joyful tween anthem sound like a vintage Sixties protest song.

The song's official YouTube video was flooded with comments regarding the killing of bin Laden and it was immediately deemed a celebratory anthem for the event.

[108] Of the song becoming an anthem for bin Laden's death, Nitsuh Abebe of New York magazine wrote, "I have to confess that my list of reactions to the news did not get anywhere near 'watch a Miley Cyrus video.'

Cyrus' video... is stocked with a great many of those things we like and do well: a drive-in theater, trucks and muscle cars, Daisy Dukes, giant flags.

", where she made a short clip combining Party in the USA with Wrecking Ball, with the background music being the second to last line in the song.