Zendaya has been in the spotlight for most of her life, working as an actor, singer, model, and more. In recent years, she’s shown that she’s a serious actor to contend with, winning a historic Emmy Award for her role in the hit HBO series Euphoria. But when it comes to her music career, Zendaya is less enthused about pursuing it vigorously.
Zendaya is a singer as well as an actor
Zendaya first rose to prominence in the 2000s as a child model for brands including Macy’s and Old Navy. At the turn of the 2010s, she began releasing music independently, starting with her 2011 debut single “Swag It Out.” She embarked on the Swag It Out tour the following year, which coincided with the release of her debut album.
In 2013, Zendaya released her self-titled debut album, fronted by the lead single “Replay.” The song reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is certified platinum with over one million copies sold.
Zendaya continued to build her profile as an actor in the 2010s with roles on the Disney Channel series Shake It Up and K.C. Undercover.
Zendaya doesn’t want to be a pop star
Zendaya looked back on her career with fellow actor Andrew Garfield in a 2022 interview for Variety‘s Actors on Actors series. She opened up about a conversation she had with Euphoria showrunner Sam Levinson about her public perception and how audiences project their ideas of success onto celebrities.
“I was talking to Sam about this earlier. I was like I don’t know if I could ever be a pop star. It’s because as an actor, there’s a level of anonymity that I get to have, which I really like,” she told Garfield. “And I get to sort my stuff, whatever that is, through a character, and nobody needs to know about it. Whereas in other forms and other mediums, it’s all you all the time. I like the idea that somebody else, meaning Rue, gets to take on that stuff.”
When Garfield asked if Zendaya was hesitant about being a pop star because of setting boundaries, she was honest with her answer: “Yeah, boundaries. Learning what’s for me.”
Zendaya sings while acting
In recent years, Zendaya’s music releases have been limited to movies and TV shows that she’s starred in.
In 2017, she starred in the musical film The Greatest Showman, with singing credits on several tracks; the Zac Efron collab “Rewrite the Stars” reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is certified two-times platinum.
In 2019, her collaboration with Labrinth, “All For Us,” was heavily featured in the first season of Euphoria, culminating in a musical number at the end of the finale. When Euphoria returned for its highly-anticipated second season in 2022, she had two songs on the official soundtrack: the Labrinth collab “I’m Tired,” and “Elliot’s Song,” performed in the show by singer and Euphoria newcomer Dominic Fike.
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