Lea Michelle chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her new lullaby album “Forever.”
She is an award-winning actress, singer, and a New York Times bestselling author. She is best known for her role as Rachel Berry on Ryan Murphy’s critically acclaimed series, “Glee.”
On the idea for her lullaby album, she said, “Even prior to having children I thought the idea of making a lullaby album sounded so beautiful. The fact that we could use our voices to smooth children is such a beautiful concept to me. Once I had my son and I would sing to him while I was pregnant and when he was first born the desire to make this record became even stronger for me.”
Regarding her music and songwriting inspirations, she said, “My life and experiences have always been a big inspiration in my music and songwriting. It helps bring everything to life more for me when the themes are inspired by my truth and emotions.”
When asked about her favorite songs on the new CD, she responded, “I truly love all of the songs on this album and each one has its own personal memory and meaning for me. I would say Oh What a World is definitely a big favorite for me because it’s the first song I listened to moments after I found out I was pregnant. So many of the songs have specific and personal meaning.”
In 2010, Michele was honored with an Emmy Award nomination for “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series” and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Actress – Comedy. In 2012 and 2013, Michele won the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actress: Comedy. In 2013, she also won a People’s Choice Award for Best TV Comedic Actress.
At just eight years old, Lea Michele made her Broadway debut as “Young Cosette” in “Les Misérables.” Since then, Michele has shared the stage with Broadway greats Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell in “Ragtime,” as well as Alfred Molina in the 20th anniversary production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”
She also received raved reviews for her stage performance in the role of “Wendla” for the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of “Spring Awakening,” which earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
While appearing on television and stage, Michele’s love for music has been a focal point in her career. Michele has had the honoring of singing for The President and performing at the Superbowl. She has released 3 albums, “Christmas in the City”, “Places” and “Louder” and has also traveled around the world on multiple concert tours including a joint tour with fellow “Glee” alum Darren Criss.
She is also a bestselling author releasing “Brunette Ambition”, which was a NY Times Best Seller as well as her follow-up book, “You First.”
For young and aspiring artists, she said, “I get asked this question a lot and I always say the best advice I could give is that if this craft is truly what brings you the most joy and makes you feel like your true and complete self then work hard and invest in your craft fully and always continue to learn and educate yourself to grow as much as you can.”
Michele listed Kasey Musgraves and Celine Dion as her dream collaboration choices in music. “Kasey Musgraves because she is my absolute favorite right now, and Celine Dion because she is the greatest of all time,” she explained.
On her definition of the word success, she said, “Success for me means accomplishing my purpose. I’ve always wanted a family and to be able to also do what I love and the fact that I have those two things and happiness on top of it for me is the ultimate success. “
Michele concluded about the new album, “I hope everyone finds the same peace and joy in this album, music has a way of connecting people to memories and that’s why the songs and the album feel so personal to me.”
Her lullaby album “Forever” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Lea Michele, follow her on Instagram.
