Justin Timberlake. Katy Perry. Jennifer Hudson. What these celebs all have in common is the way they went from famous singers to notable actors. But in some cases, a singer will start out as an actor before breaking into the music business.
Whether it's a soap opera heartthrob-turned-famous rockstar, child actors who truly wanted to sing, or Disney starlets who became worldwide popstars, plenty of musicians got their big breaks on popular TV shows throughout the years.
Drake, 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'
Drake has been a popular rapper for over a decade, becoming a Grammy Award winner in 2013 for his album Take Care. But the rapper's career began in a well-known Canadian teen drama.
Drake played Jimmy Brooks in Degrassi: The Next Generation for the first eight seasons under his real name Aubrey Drake Graham, appearing in 100 episodes of the show.
Jennifer Lopez, 'In Living Color'
Jennifer Lopez - formerly known as singer J.Lo - has made a career of both singing and acting. With eight albums and over three dozen movies under her belt, Lopez appears as a double threat but has always proven to be a triple one.
While this is less acting and more dancing, the "Jenny From The Block" singer got her start on the sketch comedy In Living Color as a fly girl alongside notable dancers like Carrie Ann Inaba and Rosie Perez.
MAX, 'How To Rock'
Popstar Max Schneider, known in the music world simply as MAX, is responsible for hit songs like "Lights Down Low" and "Blueberry Eyes."
But long before he was blowing up on the radio, MAX was starring as Zander on the Nickelodeon show How To Rock. The show lasted one season on the network and also starred actress and singer Cymphonique Miller, younger sister of rapper Lil Romeo.
Selena Gomez, 'Wizards Of Waverly Place'
Before Selena Gomez was a Grammy Award-nominee, she was appearing in Disney Channel comedies like Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody before scoring the lead role on Wizards of Waverly Place.
For four seasons and two Disney Channel Original Movies, Gomez played wizard Alex Russo, and even performed the theme song "Everything Is Not What It Seems" long before she was putting out hits of her own.
Jack Met, 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'
Long before he was going on international concert tours with his band of brothers, "Bang!" hitmaker Jack Met of AJR began his career as a child actor, most memorably with a short-lived role on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Met played the character Billy Whitlock, the young son of a mother who's being threatened. It's still at the start of the episode when Billy ends up in a car explosion along with his mother and younger brother, leaving his older brother as the only survivor.
Malcolm Kelley, 'Lost,' 'Gigantic'
At just 12 years old, Malcolm Kelley starred in the hit ABC drama Lost as Walt Lloyd, the son of Harold Perrineau's Michael Dawson.
Kelley later joined forces with his Gigantic co-star Tony Oller and formed the duo MKTO. The two made music together for seven years, rising to fame in 2014 with their hit "Classic" before parting ways in 2017 and reuniting a year later with new music.
Childish Gambino, 'Community'
Childish Gambino has been known for Grammy Award-winning hits like "This Is America" and "Redbone," but he was first known in Hollywood as Donald Glover.
Glover starred in the NBC comedy Community as Troy Barnes for the first five seasons of the show before leaving to pursue his music career under the professional name Childish Gambino.
Fergie, 'Peanuts,' 'Kids Incorporated'
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The Fergalicious Fergie shot to fame as a member of the Hip Hop group Black Eyed Peas before breaking out into a solo career with memorable songs like "Glamorous" and "Big Girls Don't Cry."
But the singer started out as an actress, not only voicing the iconic role of Sally in two Peanuts films and The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, but became the longest-running cast member of the 80's children's show Kids Incorporated.
Rick Springfield, 'General Hospital'
Rockstar Rick Springfield has been playing the hits for decades, most famous for his 1981 song "Jessie's Girl." But as he rose to fame as a rocker, Springfield acted on a popular soap opera.
Springfield played Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital from 1981 until 1983, breaking for his major music career before returning to the soap in 2007 in a double duty role as both Noah and rockstar Eli Love, and later came full circle when he performed "Jessie's Girl" during the show's 50th-anniversary episode.
Demi Lovato, 'As The Bell Rings,' 'Sonny With A Chance'
Pop-rock sensation Demi Lovato may mostly be known for their music now, but they started out as a successful actor on Disney Channel.
Not only did Lovato land the starring role in Sonny With A Chance for two seasons, but they also starred in the vignette comedy series As The Bell Rings alongside another future musician, Tony Oller of the band MKTO.