Top Girl Musicians 21 And Under

Arianna Grande – 20

Arianna imageAriana Grande-Butera, known professionally as Ariana Grande, is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. Ariana grew up in Boca Raton, FL. Grande made her acting debut in 2008 in the role of Charlotte in 13 on Broadway. From 2010 until 2013, she played Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon sitcoms Victorious and iCarly (2011) and is reprising the role on the spinoff Sam & Cat. In March 2013, Grande reached mainstream success after her single “The Way” from her debut studio album Yours Truly (2013) became a Top 40 hit. She is currently exploding on iTunes. Take a listen here!


 

Selena Gomez – 21

Selena Gomez imageSelena Marie Gomez is an American singer and actress. Gomez first made her debut appearing as Gianna in Barney & Friends, lasting from 2002 to 2004. Following this, Gomez had cameo roles in titles ranging from Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over to Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire. Following that were a smattering of cameos on various Disney shows until her breakout role on Wizards of Waverly Place. She continued working steadily until she released her first album in 2009 under the name Selena Gomez & the Scene, titled Kiss & Tell. The album was a commercial success, peaking inside the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. Since then, she has steadily balanced an acting and singling career, making her a prominent fixture in the media. Bolstering that prominence is her highly publicized on again off again relationship with megastar Justin Bieber. Her new album is performing highly on the charts with “Come and Get It” receiving constant airplay. While her relationship status may be complicated, she will be around more than long enough to figure it out.

 

Demi Lovato – 21

Demi Lovato imageDemetria Devonne “Demi” Lovato a singer-songwriter, musician and actress from Alburquerque, NM. She made her debut as child actress in Barney & Friends. In 2008, she really started to make her mark in the TV movie Camp Rock. She signed to Hollywood Records the same year, and released her debut studio album Don’t Forget in September 2008, which went gold. In 2009, Lovato was commissioned for her own television series Sonny with a Chance. That year, her second album Here We Go Again became her first to debut atop the U.S. Billboard 200. The pace didn’t slow down, however this wasn’t an entirely good thing for Demi, as she began to deal with highly publicized personal struggles which sent her acting career into hiatus. She was able to continue singing, and mined her struggles for song material in a highly effective way. Her third album Unbroken (2011) addresses several of her difficulties, notably her lead single “Skyscraper” which became her first single to go Platinum in the United States. The second single from the album “Give Your Heart a Break” became a breakout song for Lovato, becoming her biggest radio hit at the time and being certified 2x Platinum in the US. Since 2012, Lovato has served as a judge and mentor on the American version of The X Factor. Her fourth album Demi (2013) was preceded by its lead single “Heart Attack” which broke new ground again, going 2x Platinum in the US and becoming her first international hit in countries such as the UK, debuting and peaking at number 3 in its first week. Her new single, “Made in the USA” is also performing well. While she has a guest appearance on Glee forthcoming, it’s unclear how much of her focus will be on her acting career going forward; that said, her musical talents are unquestionable.


 

Miley Cyrus – 21

Miley Cyrus imageMiley might be the one who pioneered it all. Born Destiny Hope Cyrus, Miley (now legally named) is an American actress and recording artist. She is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Little known fact, Miley held minor roles in the television series Doc and the film Big Fish in her childhood. In 2006, Cyrus rose to fame as a teen idol after being cast in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana, in which she portrayed the starring character Miley Stewart. The show also featured her father, as her father on the show, Billy. Talk about META. After signing a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2007, she released Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, which served as the series’ soundtrack and Cyrus’ debut studio album. It sold three million copies in the United States, and additionally produced the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single “See You Again”. Later that year, her Best of Both Worlds Tour was adapted into the film Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert. Cyrus’ second album Breakout (2008) quickly went platinum.  That same year, she launched her film career as the voice actress for Penny in the animated film Bolt. She earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for her performance of its theme song, “I Thought I Lost You”. In 2009, Cyrus starred in the feature film Hannah Montana: The Movie, the soundtrack of which introduced her to country and adult contemporary markets. Its lead single, “The Climb”, remains among Cyrus’ most successful singles to date. Cyrus began to cultivate an adult image and mainstream pop sound with her extended play The Time of Our Lives (2009). Peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, its track “Party in the U.S.A.” became Cyrus’ highest-peaking single on the chart thus far. Her increasingly maturing image progressed with the release of the film The Last Song and her third album, Can’t Be Tamed in 2010. In 2013, Cyrus signed a recording contract with RCA Records, and announced plans to release her fourth album, Bangerz, later this year. Its lead single, “We Can’t Stop”, is a steady fixture on the charts and clearly solidifies her image as a bona-fide envelope pushing artist and adult. She has already had a total of six Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and had four RIAA certified albums by the age of 18. She just Can’t Stop!

 

Bella Thorne – 15

Bella Thorn imageAnnabella Avery “Bella” Thorne is an American teen actress, dancer, singer, and model. She is a child model and actor with credits in more than 20 films and television series and more than 60 commercials, but she is perhaps best known for her role as the aspiring young dancer CeCe Jones on the Disney Channel original series Shake It Up. While she has had moderate success with her singing career, Bella seems poised to make a real push at acting, with upcoming roles in 3 movies over the next 18 months and several more deals in negotiations.


 

Zendaya – 16

Zendaya imageAnother Shake It Up alum, Zendaya Coleman, known simply as Zendaya, is an American actress, singer and dancer. As of 2013 she stars on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up as Rocky Blue. She has starred in two films and played one of the lead roles in the film Frenemies as Halley Brandon. She voiced Fern in the Pixie Hollow Games. She has also  appeared in Good Luck Charlie as Rocky Blue and in a Good Luck Charlie and Shake It Up crossover titled Charlie Shakes It Up. She appeared on PrankStars as herself in the episode “Walk The Prank” and on A.N.T. Farm as Sequoia Jones in the episode “Creative ConsultANT.” Zendaya is also a musician. She signed a deal with Hollywood Records on August 8, 2012 and started recording songs for her debut album on August 12, 2012. Her latest single “Replay” recalls Rihanna in the best way and she is poised to move more squarely into mainstream chart-topping territory.

 

Bridgit Mendler – 20

Bridget Mendler imageBridgit Claire Mendler is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. She plays Teddy Duncan in the Disney Channel Original Series Good Luck Charlie and appeared in the 2009 made for television film Labor Pains. In 2009, she became a recurring character for the Disney Channel Original Series Wizards of Waverly Place. In December of that year, she made her theatrical debut in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, released on December 23, 2009. Following the positive reception to her character on Wizards, she became the star of the Disney series Good Luck Charlie, which premiered in April 2010. In 2011, she appeared in the film Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas. She starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Lemonade Mouth, in which her character Olivia performs numerous songs. Two singles were released from the soundtrack featuring her vocals, with both charting on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2012, she released her debut album Hello My Name Is… and has sold over 150,000 copies to date. Following the huge success (gold in several countries) of her debut single “Ready or Not”, “Hurricane” her second single, has over 33 million views on YouTube and recalls the sound of an early Jessie J. Take a listen!

 

 

Cher Lloyd – 20

Cher Lloyd imageCher Lloyd is an English singer-songwriter, rapper and model. Lloyd rose to fame when she finished fourth in the seventh series of The X Factor and was a judge and fan favorite despite her fourth place finish. Shortly afterwards, Lloyd was signed to Syco Music. Lloyd’s debut single “Swagger Jagger” was released in July 2011. The single entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart and number two in the Republic of Ireland. Her second single “With Ur Love” was released on 31 October 2011, featuring Mike Posner, and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, and number five in Ireland, preceding her debut album Sticks + Stones, which peaked at number four in the UK Albums Chart and number seven in Ireland. She debuted her third single “Want U Back” on 22 May 2012 in the United States. That video has almost 80 million YouTube views to date. With good reason! See it below.

 

 The Girls of Fifth Harmony

Fifth Harmony imageFifth Harmony is an American girl group formed in 2012, consisting of members Camila Cabello, Normani Kordei Hamilton, Lauren Jauregui, Allyson Brooke Hernandez and Dinah Jane Hansen. They were formed as a band on the second season of The X Factor, and finished in third place. Following their success, they signed to Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Records and L.A. Reid’s Epic Records, in a joint deal. Fifth Harmony is composed of five singers who met as solo artists during boot camp on the show. They successfully auditioned as soloists, but failed to progress individually to the judges’ homes stage of the competition. They were later formed as a group by Simon Cowell, and moved over to the “Groups” category. The group was originally called LYLAS (Love You Like a Sister), but was then changed to 1432 (I Love You Too). On the second live show of the competition; the quintet was finally named Fifth Harmony after Simon Cowell decided that 1432 was unsuitable and that fans should choose a new name. Simon gets what Simon wants. Fifth Harmony finished in 3rd place behind Carly Rose Sonenclar and Tate Stevens, becoming the second group to ever reach the Top 3 of the competition. Check out their latest single “Miss Movin’ On” here.

 

Miranda Cosgrove – 20

Miranda Cosgrove imageMiranda Taylor Cosgrove is an American actress and singer-songwriter. Cosgrove’s career began at the age of three when she appeared in television commercials. Her film debut was in 2003, as Summer Hathaway in School of Rock. Cosgrove played a number of minor television roles over several years before coming to landing a plum role on the Nickelodeon TV series Drake & Josh. A few years later, Cosgrove landed the role of Carly, the lead character in the Nickelodeon TV series iCarly. Following the success of iCarly, a soundtrack album was released in June 2008, in which she performed four songs. Cosgrove’s debut album Sparks Fly was released on April 27, 2010. Cosgrove is currently attending the University of Southern California and will be majoring in film. In addition to being a brainiac, Cosgrove is passionate about philanthropy; she is an active supporter of Memphis, Tennessee’s St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She also visits other children’s hospitals and considers Education Through Music as one of her favorite charities. She is also a national spokesperson for Light the Night Walk, an organization that creates awareness for blood cancer and leukemia. Beauty, brains, talent and a good heart: talk about a quadruple threat.

 

Victoria Justice – 20

Victoria Justice imageVictoria Dawn Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious. Justice explains the show’s genesis thus: “I was on Zoey 101. When I was 12, Dan Schneider cast me as a new character, Lola Martinez. From there, I worked with him for three years, on three seasons of Zoey. And, after that, Dan found out that I could also sing and dance as well as act, so he thought it would be really cool to create a show for me on Nickelodeon, called Victorious.” The pilot for the show, which was presented as a special for the series, debuted on March 27, 2010, and received 5.7 million views, making it the second-highest rated premiere for a live-action Nickelodeon series. Aside from acting, Justice is involved in her musical career. She has performed several songs for the soundtrack to the Nickelodeon musical Spectacular!, in which she also starred. She has recorded a number of songs for the Victorious series. Justice has announced the release of her debut album, no release date is available as of yet.

 

Sasha Pieterse – 17

Sasha Pieterse imageSasha Pieterse is a South African born American actress and singer. She is known for her role as Alison DiLaurentis on ABC Family’s hit series Pretty Little Liars. She emigrated to the States at age 3 and quickly landed in Los Angeles. At 6 years old, Sasha got her start in television, co-starring in 2002 as “Buffy” on The WB comedy series Family Affair. She started to rise to fame as an actress when she played in House M.D., portraying a young girl with terminal cancer named Andie. Her performance in House was later considered for a daytime Emmy in 2005.

After numerous other film appearances, including The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl, Sasha landed the coveted role of Alison DiLaurentis in PLL, the former “Queen Bee” of her clique and the most popular and beautiful girl in school before her disappearance and death. As “A” and later a Red Coat, she’s kept viewers on their toes for years on end. Plans for a full-length studio album (likely with a country bend) are forthcoming. You can also catch Sasha, to hilarious effect, as popular girl Fawcett in the excellent film G.B.F.