Chord Paul Overstreet (born February 17, 1989)
is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role as
Sam Evans
Sam Evans is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. The character is portrayed by actor Chord Overstreet, and appeared on ''Glee'' starting with the second season premiere episode entitled "Audition", first b ...
on the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
television series ''
Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'' (2009–2015). He has starred in the
Apple TV+
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...
comedy series
''Acapulco'' since 2021.
After signing to
Safehouse Records
Safehouse Records is a defunct American record label created by artists Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas and his manager Phil McIntyre that existed until the late 2010s. Announced on May 26, 2015, its goal was to "put artists in control of their art while ...
, he began a career as a solo musical artist. On August 26, 2016, he released his debut single, "Homeland", through
Island Records and
Safehouse Records
Safehouse Records is a defunct American record label created by artists Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas and his manager Phil McIntyre that existed until the late 2010s. Announced on May 26, 2015, its goal was to "put artists in control of their art while ...
.
Early life
Overstreet was born in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
to
hairdresser
A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be re ...
Julie (née Miller) and
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer-songwriter
Paul Overstreet. He has an older brother, Nash Overstreet (born 1986), who plays guitar in the band
Hot Chelle Rae
Hot Chelle Rae ( ) (formerly known as Miracle Drug) is an American pop rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2005. The band currently consists of Ryan Follesé (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Nash Overstreet (lead guitar, backing vocals), a ...
; an older sister, Summer (born 1987), and three younger sisters, Harmony, Skye and Charity.
He is of German, Irish and English descent.
He was named after the
musical term
A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...
.
He was raised on a farm outside of Nashville. Encouraged by his parents to pursue music, he started playing the
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
at an early age, and moved on to the
drums,
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
,
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
and
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
.
He is also a songwriter.
In his teenage years, he modeled for advertisements for
Hollister,
Famous Footwear and
Gap. He was
homeschooled
Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...
.
Career
2009–2015: Beginnings and ''Glee''
Overstreet began to pursue his passion of performing after his high school graduation in 2007. After two unsuccessful years, Overstreet started his acting career on the
web series
A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...
''
Private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
'' as Josh Hollis. He was also featured in an episode of ''
iCarly'' titled "iSpeed Date" and starred in the unaired pilot of ''
No Ordinary Family
''No Ordinary Family'' is an American television series that aired on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada. The one hour science fiction comedy drama was produced by ABC Studios for the 2010–2011 television season. The series ran from ...
''.
His first film role was that of Teenage Boy in the 2009
thriller ''
The Hole'', and he starred in the 2011 film ''
A Warrior's Heart
''A Warrior's Heart'' is an American 2011 romantic film, romantic sports film, sports drama film directed by Michael F. Sears and written by Martin Dugard (author), Martin Dugard. It stars Kellan Lutz, Adam Beach, Gabrielle Anwar and Ashley Green ...
'' as Dupree, alongside
Ashley Greene
Ashley Michele Greene Khoury (born February 21, 1987) is an American actress. She is known for playing Alice Cullen in the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's ''Twilight'' novels.
Early life
Greene was born on February 21, 1987, in Jack ...
and
Kellan Lutz
Kellan Christopher Lutz (born March 15, 1985) is an American actor and model. He made his film debut in ''Stick It'' (2006), and is best known for playing Emmett Cullen in ''The Twilight Saga'' film series (2008–2012). He has since played Pos ...
.
Overstreet played the character of
Sam Evans
Sam Evans is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. The character is portrayed by actor Chord Overstreet, and appeared on ''Glee'' starting with the second season premiere episode entitled "Audition", first b ...
, a transfer student and athlete, on the
FOX
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
comedy-drama television series ''
Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
''.
He landed the role after auditioning with the
Commodores
Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...
' song "
Easy" and
Gavin DeGraw's "
I Don't Want to Be
"I Don't Want to Be" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw from his 2003 debut album, '' Chariot''. The song gained exposure after being featured as the opening theme to The CW teen drama series ''One Tree Hill'', and it was relea ...
".
He later sang "
Billionaire" by
Travie McCoy
Travis Lazarus "Travie" McCoy (born August 5, 1981) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is the co-founder and former lead vocalist of the rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, in addition to having a solo career. McCoy became involved w ...
featuring
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...
as a studio test, and eventually sang this in his debut episode titled "
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...
". His cover of "
Billionaire" was released as a single and charted at #15 in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, #24 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, #28 in the United States, and #34 in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. On April 21, 2011, the video for
Hot Chelle Rae
Hot Chelle Rae ( ) (formerly known as Miracle Drug) is an American pop rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2005. The band currently consists of Ryan Follesé (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Nash Overstreet (lead guitar, backing vocals), a ...
's "
Tonight Tonight" was released on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and featured a series of cameos of Overstreet alternately making out with a girl (whom he stole from the lead singer) on an office copier, DJing at a club, then playing guitar and mugging for the crowd with his brother, Hot Chelle Rae band member, Nash.
On July 1, 2011,
TVLine
''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs.
History
In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to est ...
's
Michael Ausiello
Michael Ausiello (born February 23, 1972) is an American television industry journalist, author, and actor. He was a senior writer at ''TV Guide'' and its companion website, TVGuide.com, between 2000 and 2008. From 2008 to 2010, he wrote and re ...
broke the news that Overstreet's contract option to become a series regular on ''Glee'' had not been picked up for season 3, but that he could possibly come back as an occasional guest star.
In reaction to the announcement, fans launched a campaign to promote Overstreet's cover of "Billionaire" and various tags related to the actor, most notably "#DontCutTheChord", began trending on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
. The song made its way into the iTunes top 5 ''Glee'' charts during the campaign.
At the 2011
Comic-Con
A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...
event, ''Glee'' co-creator
Brad Falchuk
Bradley Douglas Falchuk (born March 1, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer, best known for co-creating with Ryan Murphy the comedy-drama television series '' Glee'', the drama series '' Pose'', the horror comedy '' S ...
reported that they had offered Overstreet a ten-episode deal with a possibility to become a series regular at mid-season, but that Overstreet had declined the option. Overstreet later stated to Ausiello during an interview that he had decided to leave the show to focus on his music career, explaining: "They offered me the chance to come back for a few episodes, but there was nothing guaranteed so I decided to dive into the music thing." It was reported on October 18, 2011, and confirmed by series co-creator
Ryan Murphy six days later, that Overstreet would be returning to ''Glee'' as a recurring character starting with the third season's eighth episode. On July 23, 2012, it was confirmed that Overstreet would be a series regular for the
fourth season of ''Glee'', where he continued until the
last season.
2015–present: Music career, acting
Chord has cited
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
,
David Gray,
Jimmy Buffett,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Paul Simon, and
Hall & Oates
Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...
as musicians that inspire him.
On December 15, 2015, Overstreet signed a recording contract with
Safehouse Records
Safehouse Records is a defunct American record label created by artists Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas and his manager Phil McIntyre that existed until the late 2010s. Announced on May 26, 2015, its goal was to "put artists in control of their art while ...
, a record label founded by
Demi Lovato
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...
,
Nick Jonas
Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...
and Phil McIntyre. He was the first artist to be signed to the label.
He opened for Lovato and Jonas on several tour dates of their
Future Now Tour
The Future Now Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American singers Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas. It was Lovato's fifth headlining tour, in support of her fifth studio album '' Confident'' (2015), and Jonas' third concert tour, in support of h ...
in summer 2016.
On August 26, 2016, Chord released his first official solo single, "Homeland", through
Island Records and Safehouse Records. Digital Journal called it "a fitting homage to his hometown", giving the song a five star rating.
A music video for the song premiered through
Billboard on October 7, 2016. In a September 2016 interview with the
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
, Overstreet revealed that he was working on an EP, yet to be released.
In December 2016, he released a cover of "All I Want For Christmas is a Real Good Tan", written by Overstreet's father and originally recorded by
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Coun ...
. Overstreet released a new single, "Hold On", on February 3, 2017. The song peaked at number 31 on the Spotify Viral 50 chart and later earn double platinum certification by
RIAA. He released his first EP consisting of four tracks on May 12, 2017, entitled ''Tree House Tapes''.
In June 2017, he was picked as
Elvis Duran's
Artist of the Month and was featured on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' show broadcast nationally where he performed live his single "Hold On". He also performed the song on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
on August 14, 2017.
Overstreet made appearances as a guest star in a number of television series including ''
The Bold Type
''The Bold Type'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Sarah Watson and produced by Universal Television for Freeform. It is inspired by the life and career of former editor-in-chief of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine Joanna Col ...
'',
''Royalties'', and ''
Pickle and Peanut
''Pickle and Peanut'' is an American animated television series created by Noah Z. Jones and developed by Joel Trussell. It aired on Disney XD from September 7, 2015, to January 20, 2018. It is about two friends, Pickle and Peanut, an anthrop ...
''. In 2021, he joined the cast of
''Acapulco'', an
Apple TV+
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...
comedy series set in 1984. The series' second season was released in October 2022.
In 2020, he starred in the comedy film ''The Swing of Things'', which was released on
Hulu. He starrred in the 2022
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film ''
Falling for Christmas'' opposite
Lindsay Lohan.
Personal life
Overstreet dated British actress
Emma Watson
Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress and activist. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, as well as for her women's rights work, she has received a selection of accolades, includi ...
in 2018.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
Discography
As Chord Overstreet
Extended plays
Singles
As featured artist
As OVERSTREET
Extended plays
Singles
Tours
Co-headlining
*
Glee Cast
''Glee'' (stylized as ''glee'') is an American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on the Fox network in the United States from May 19, 2009, to March 20, 2015. It centers on the glee club called the New Directions at the fictional ...
–
Glee Live! In Concert!
Glee Live! In Concert! was a 2010—2011 concert tour performed in-character by members of the cast of the popular television series '' Glee''. The tour, created by series creator Ryan Murphy, was designed to build on the overwhelming response ...
(2011)
Opening act
*
Demi Lovato
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...
and
Nick Jonas
Nicholas Jerry Jonas (born September 16, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Jonas began acting on Broadway at the age of seven, and released his debut single in 2002; this caught the attention of Columbia Records, where Jonas ...
–
Future Now Tour
The Future Now Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American singers Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas. It was Lovato's fifth headlining tour, in support of her fifth studio album '' Confident'' (2015), and Jonas' third concert tour, in support of h ...
(2016)
(selected dates)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Chord Overstreet at Island Records*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overstreet, Chord
1989 births
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American singers
American people of English descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
American male guitarists
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American mandolinists
American multi-instrumentalists
Guitarists from Tennessee
Island Records artists
Living people
Male actors from Nashville, Tennessee
Safehouse Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American male singers