Alex Eugene Newell (born August 20, 1992) is an American actor and singer. They are known for their role as Unique Adams 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 ...

musical 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 ...

'' and Mo on ''

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist ''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist'' is an American musical comedy-drama television series created by Austin Winsberg that premiered on January 7, 2020, on NBC. The series stars Jane Levy as Zoey Clarke, a software developer who discovers she has t ...

''. Newell also starred as Asaka in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

revival of ''

Once on This Island ''Once on This Island'' is a coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the 1985 novel ''My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl'' by Rosa Guy, a Caribbean-set retelling ...

'' at the Circle in the Square Theater in 2018. As a singer, Newell has released tracks with

Clean Bandit Clean Bandit are an English electronic music group, formed in Cambridge in 2008. They have had four number 1 hits and ten top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart. They direct and produce their own music videos, many of which have been nominated for ...

Blonde Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...

, and

The Knocks The Knocks is an American electronic music duo consisting of Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson. They have released 3 full length albums Big Beat Records, Neon Gold">Big Beat Records (American record label)">Big Beat Records, Neon ...

Early life

Newell was born on August 20, 1992, in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

. Their father, a deacon, died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

when they were six years old, at which point their mother raised them as a

single parent A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

. After four complete years of education in the first class of Kipp Lynn Academy, Newell moved on to and graduated from Bishop Fenwick High School in 2012, where they were involved in their school's choir, improv club, and

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

club; they were also a member of their church choir. They never had any formal voice lessons before landing their part on ''Glee.'' They have cited

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

, Sylvester, Diana Ross,

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, Chaka Khan, and Beyoncé as their influences.

Career

2010–14: ''Glee''

Newell was among 34,000 to submit an audition video in 2011 for the first season of

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

's ''

The Glee Project ''The Glee Project'' is an American reality television series from Oxygen. It served as an audition for the Fox musical comedy series '' Glee'', and the prize for the winner was a minimum seven-episode arc in the following season of the show. ...

''. Newell's self-taped audition earned them over one million MySpace views as well as a spot among the 12 participants who competed for a seven-episode arc on ''

''. During the arc, they asserted themself as an out gay man. Eventually, they became the series’ first runner-up. Nevertheless, the producers were so impressed that they decided to bring them on ''Glee'' for two episodes. Newell first appeared on ''Glee'' in the third season episode "

Saturday Night Glee-ver "Saturday Night Glee-ver" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the American musical television series '' Glee'', and the sixtieth overall. Written by Matthew Hodgson and directed by Bradley Buecker, the episode aired on Fox in the Uni ...

". They were cast in the role of

Wade "Unique" Adams Unique Adams is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee'' who first appeared in "Saturday Night Glee-ver", the sixteenth episode of the show's third season. Portrayed by actor Alex Newell, Unique is notable for b ...

, a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

teenager who was assigned male at birth. The shy, outcast Wade expressed their female identity through music as the bold, brave alter ego, Unique. Wade broke ground by being one of the most visible transgender characters on television and one of the first on a network prime time show. Newell's performance was described as "bold", with "remarkable restraint and powerful vocals." On his nightly show, Bill O'Reilly expressed concern that children watching the show unsupervised might be encouraged to experiment with what he termed "alternative lifestyles," which he said the show glorified. Newell commented, "My mother said, 'If Bill O'Reilly said something about you, you are doing something right.' He just showed the public and conservative viewers me. There are more people seeing me now... There are people like Wade and Unique, and hey'rebeing themselves. If kids want to go and do that, that is them expressing who they are." They later appeared in two more episodes and completed their story arc that season. Newell was accepted into the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

for fall 2012, but decided instead to move to Los Angeles to be on ''Glee'' when they were asked to rejoin the cast for the show's fourth season. Unique returned as a ''Glee'' recurring cast member in the fourth season premiere, "

The New Rachel "The New Rachel" is the premiere episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series '' Glee'', and the sixty-seventh episode overall. Written by Ryan Murphy and directed by Brad Falchuk, it aired on Fox in the United States ...

". Newell, along with the rest of the cast, received a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2012, but lost to ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...

''. For the fifth season, Newell was promoted to main cast because of the character's popularity. In the sixth and final season, Newell was not a part of the regular cast, but did appear as a recurring guest star. A highlight of the sixth season was Newell singing "

I Know Where I've Been "I Know Where I've Been" is a gospel-style, soul song from the 2002 musical ''Hairspray'', performed by "Motormouth" Maybelle as she leads a protest for racial equality through the streets of Baltimore. Critical reception The song is regarded by c ...

" from ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

'' with the Transpersons Choir of 200 performers.

2014–16: Music career and ''Power'' EP

Over the years, Newell sang at numerous events, such as the

Coachella Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert ...

, but also at many LGBT events and pride festivals. They also performed at the Governors Ball Music Festival and

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...

. Newell announced in October 2013 that they had been signed by Big Beat Records and that they were going to release Newell's debut album. It was also revealed that it was going to be produced by

Adam Anders Adam Anders (born October 10, 1975) is a Swedish film, television and music producer who has sold more than 100 million albums and in recent years has become one of the most in-demand Executive Producers for music-driven film and television. Ander ...

. Their debut single, a cover of Sigma's "

Nobody to Love "Nobody to Love" is a song by British Record producer, record production duo Sigma (DJs), Sigma. The song was originally a Bootleg recording, bootleg remix of "Bound 2" by Kanye West featuring Charlie Wilson (singer), Charlie Wilson, released on ...

", was released on June 3, 2014. In 2015, Newell embarked on a series of cover songs and collaborations. In March, they provided feature vocals for the re-issued version of " Stronger", a song by

. Later in the same month, they produced a disco-house stylization of

Robin S. Robin Stone (born April 27, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, who scored success in the 1990s with such house music singles as " Show Me Love" (which was her debut single) and " Luv 4 Luv". She has had three number ones on the ''Bi ...

's single " Show Me Love" together with Russian DJ Matvey Emerson. Over the summer, they worked with the British electro duo

by featuring vocals in their single " All Cried Out". They then began to collaborate with the US electroduo

on the song "Collect My Love", "a soaring disco standout" where they reached "staggering heights." The song, from the EP ''So Classic'', will be included in The Knocks' debut album ''55'', scheduled to be released in March 2016. Finally, for Christmas, Newell released a cover of the song "

O Come All Ye Faithful "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (originally written in Latin as "") is a Christmas carol that has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (1711–1786), John Reading (composer and organist), John Reading (1645–1692), John IV ...

". Their original song "This Ain't Over", released in January 2016, was warmly welcomed by the media. '' Out'' commented: "The vibrant

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

track flawlessly revives disco if only for a few short minutes. Without the gimmicks of manufactured radio pop, Newell manages to serve ''This Ain't Over'' with pure talent." '' Spin'' said: "Newell's unassailable voice is in full force on 'This Ain't Over,' shining out like a triumphant beacon over a thumping, glamorous dance-pop soundscape." ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' concluded: "This is just diva vocal acrobatics flexed with the swag of a queen." "This Ain't Over" was announced as the first track off their debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

called ''

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

'', featuring production from the pop artists

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

, Nile Rodgers,

MNEK Uzoechi Osisioma "Uzo" Emenike (born 9 November 1994), professionally known by his stage name MNEK (, ), is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He has been nominated for a Grammy and a Brit Award, and has received the ASCAP Vangua ...

and

DJ Cassidy Cassidy Durango Milton Willy Podell (born 1981), known as DJ Cassidy, is an American DJ, record producer and MC. With his trademark boaters, cricket sweaters, bow ties, color-blocked tuxedos, and 24-carat-gold microphone, Cassidy became known f ...

. The EP will be released on February 19 via

Big Beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as th ...

. Newell supported fellow ''Glee'' alum

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

on tour from February 23 until the April 2 finale at Los Angeles’ Orpheum Theatre in 2016. After the tour, Newell recorded a new single in collaboration with ''Power'' producers

and Nile Rodgers, entitled "Kill the Lights", released on April 8, 2016, through Atlantic Records. It was expected to be one of a few tracks that Newell was making as part of the HBO TV series ''

Vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

''. It was later revealed that the song had been recorded the previous year when Newell was working with Clean Bandit, Blonde and The Knocks, and inspired the producers to work with them on their debut extended play. Later that same month, the song was released again, featuring vocals from

Jess Glynne Jessica Hannah Glynne (born 20 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter. After signing with Atlantic Records, she rose to prominence in 2014 as a featured artist on the singles "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit and " My Love" by Route 94, bo ...

2016–present: Debut album, ''Once on This Island'', and ''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist''

After the success and the release of Newell's debut extended play ''Power'' and their tour with

, Newell headed back in the studio. On June 3, 2016, they released their first single outside of their recent project, entitled "Need Somebody". It was exclusively released onto

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

on June 3 and released onto other platforms several days later. Also, the earnings from its first week of sales were to be donated to

the Trevor Project The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...

. It was later confirmed the song is the lead single from Newell's debut album, to be released later in 2016. In July 2016, Newell has provided backing vocals in their biggest collaboration yet in charitable single " Hands". The song itself was written by

Justin Tranter Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Selena ...

Julia Michaels Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

and

BloodPop Michael Tucker (born August 15, 1990), known professionally as BloodPop (stylized as BloodPop®), is an American musician, record producer, and songwriter. He has previously used the monikers Blood Diamonds, Blood, and Michael Diamond. He is kn ...

and produced by Tranter himself and BloodPop, as well as

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...

. It features the likes of

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

, Gwen Stefani,

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his thi ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

, Jason Derulo, Imagine Dragons,

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

Tyler Glenn Tyler Aaron Glenn (born November 28, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is known as the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the American rock band Neon Trees and as a solo artist. Biography As a teenager, Glenn attended Ch ...

P!NK Alecia Beth Moore Hart (born September 8, 1979), known professionally as Pink (stylized as P!nk), is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She was originally a member of the girl group Choice. In 1995, LaFace Records saw potential ...

, RuPaul, Mary Lambert and

Nate Ruess Nate Ruess is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder and lead singer of the indie pop band Fun, and of The Format. As of 2015, he also performs as a solo musician. Early life Ruess was born the second child of Larry ...

. In 2017, Newell made their Broadway debut playing the role of Asaka in the revival of ''

''. In preparation, they began training with NYC voice teacher Mike Ruckles. In terms of music, Newell has also marked their return as a featured artist on the song "Other Side of Love" by house musician Kokiri. They currently appear on NBC's musical dramedy ''

'' in the role of Mo, a

genderfluid Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

DJ and the protagonist's next-door neighbor.

Other work and awards

Newell played the title role in NBC's comedy pilot ''Imaginary Friend'', which was expected to air in 2016. It was passed on and no other network wanted to make it into a series. They contributed with music to the HBO TV series ''

'' on a track also featuring

and Jess Glynne. They are committed to helping other

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

youth and regularly performs at benefit concerts, most notably for

The Trevor Project The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...

, the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

, Jack Antonoff's Ally Coalition and other fundraisers. Newell was given a special recognition award at the 2015

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their liv ...

Personal life

Newell identifies as

gender nonconforming Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

, and in May 2020 said they relate to their character Mo in ''

'', who is

. They have stated they go by all pronouns. Newell also identifies as a gay man.

Discography

EPs

Singles

As lead artist

Featured appearances

Soundtrack appearances

*'' Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2 (2011)'' *''Glee: The Music, The Complete Season 3 (2012)'' *''

Britney 2.0 "Britney 2.0" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series '' Glee'', and the sixty-eighth episode overall. Written by Brad Falchuk and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, it aired on Fox in the United Stat ...

(2012)'' *'' Glee: The Music Presents Glease (2012)'' *''Glee: The Music, The Complete Season 4 (2013)'' *'' Glee Sings the Beatles (2013)'' *''A Katy or a Gaga (Music from the Episode) (2013)'' *'' Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 4 (2013)'' *''Glee: The Music, City of Angels (2013)'' *''Glee: The Music, Transitioning (2014)'' *''Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical (World Premiere Cast Recording)'' (2016) *''Once On This Island (New Broadway Cast Recording) (2018)'' *''

: Season 1, Episode 4 (Music From the Original TV Series)'' (2020) *''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 7 (Music From the Original TV Series)'' (2020) *''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 11 (Music From the Original TV Series)'' (2020) *''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: Season 1, Episode 12 (Music From the Original TV Series)'' (2020)

Filmography

Films and television

Theater

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newell, Alex 1992 births Living people 21st-century American male actors Actors from Lynn, Massachusetts African-American male actors American dance musicians American male television actors Bishop Fenwick High School (Peabody, Massachusetts) alumni American gay actors LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Massachusetts LGBT singers from the United States Male actors from Massachusetts Participants in American reality television series Singers from Massachusetts 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century LGBT people