So many people have been affected by the devastating California wildfires. As well as finding charitable ways to help individuals who have lost their homes, the internet has worked its magic in unexpected ways. After Heidi Montag's 2010 album Superficial surged to number one on iTunes, Leighton Meester's criminally underrated music is being buoyed by fan support, too.
Alongside her acting career, which includes her unforgettable turn as Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl, Meester released several singles and her 2014 album, Heartstrings, which is simply breathtaking.
Following the news that Meester and her husband, Adam Brody, had lost their home in the Pacific Palisades fire, fans began downloading the singer's music.
@flavorflav ♬ Somebody To Love - Leighton Meester
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, rapper Flavor Flav took to TikTok to promote Meester's 2009 collaboration with Robin Thicke, "Somebody to Love." "Starting to hype up my girl Leighton Meester and help her family recover from the fire," the rapper wrote on his video.
Meester's other singles include featuring on Cobra Starship's 2009 song "Good Girls Go Bad," her 2011 solo release "Your Love's a Drug," and the lead single "Heartstrings" from her 2014 solo album. She also sang tracks including "Words I Couldn't Say" and "Give in to Me" in the 2010 movie Country Strong, in which she starred opposite Gwyneth Paltrow.
Upon the release of her 2014 single, Meester told Billboard, "[The single] 'Heartstrings' speaks to vibe and encompasses a lot of the themes of the rest of the album...It's been a long time coming and I’m very excited to finally release it."
Speaking to Teen Vogue about her inspirations for the album, the star of Netflix's The Weekend Away said, "Growing up, some of my favorite records were Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, and Kate Bush. Just female artists I really admired." She continued, "This is a long time coming. I've been working on it for a couple of years. But really, it's my whole life."
As for how she balances a career that includes both acting and recording music, Meester told the outlet, "I don't really have any control over where my acting goes. It really is the type of business nowadays where something good comes, and you have to take it." She continued, "But as far as my music goes, I have a lot more control. So I can time it, and I can commit as much or as little as I want. Right now, I want to commit most of my time to that."
