Julianne Hough

Julianne Hough’s bright country-pop is powered by her innate sense of performance. Born in Orem, UT, in 1988, Hough was dancing competitively at the age of nine, and, within the next year, went to England to master the craft. She wound up in the music biz via the dance world as assistant choreographer on Gwen Stefani’s video for the 2006 single “Wind It Up.” She went on to win back-to-back seasons of Dancing with the Stars. Moving with the momentum, she put out her debut, self-titled album in 2008, a collection of polished country that features tracks like “That Song In My Head”—a playful summer romance tune—and the gratitude-laden “My Hallelujah Song.” Her performing chops and soaring vocals serve her well on theatrical fare like her Christmas collection from that same year and soundtracks for musicals like 2012’s Rock of Ages (on which she nails Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”) and 2016’s Grease Live! (Music From The Television Event), for which she played Sandy. In 2019, she expanded her sound to include lush synth-pop with the driving “Transform.”