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 Private 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. tour, 2011 Overstreet played the character of
Sam Evans, a transfer student and athlete, on the
FOX comedy-drama television series
Glee. He landed the role after auditioning with the
Commodores' song "
Easy" and
Gavin DeGraw's "
I Don't Want to Be". On April 21, 2011, the video for
Hot Chelle Rae's "
Tonight Tonight" was released on
YouTube 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's
Michael Ausiello 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. The song made its way into the iTunes top 5
Glee charts during the campaign. At the 2011
Comic-Con event,
Glee co-creator
Brad Falchuk 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,
David Gray,
Jimmy Buffett,
Bob Dylan,
Paul Simon, and
Hall & Oates as musicians that inspire him. On December 15, 2015, Overstreet signed a recording contract with
Safehouse Records, a record label founded by
Demi Lovato,
Nick 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 in summer 2016. On August 26, 2016, Chord released his first 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 September 2016, Overstreet revealed that he was working on an EP. Overstreet released the single, "Hold On" on February 3, 2017. Though the song failed to impact any charts, it was certified double platinum certification by the
RIAA in August 2021. In June 2017, he was picked as
Elvis Duran's
Artist of the Month and performed "Hold On" on
NBC's
Today show. He also performed the song on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on August 14, 2017. Overstreet made appearances as a guest star in a number of television series including
The Bold Type,
Royalties, and
Pickle and Peanut. In 2021, he joined the cast of
Acapulco, an
Apple TV+ comedy series set in 1984. In 2020, he starred in the comedy film
The Swing of Things, which was released on
Hulu. He starred in the 2022
romantic comedy film
Falling for Christmas opposite
Lindsay Lohan. == Personal life ==