From Lady Gaga to Rick Springfield, here are the artists who have had roles on the creepy drama.
Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer in ‘AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL.’
Prashant Gupta/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection
American Horror Story kicked off in 2011 on FX with a creepy, crawly opening sequence perfect for the horror anthology. Some viewers immediately clocked similarities between its vibe, sound and look to Nine Inch Nails’ 1994 sepia-toned music video for Billboard Hot 100 hit “Closer” — and as it turned out, there was a connection.
The Ryan Murphy- and Brad Falchuk-created show had tapped former NIN keyboardist Charlie Clouser – who had since gone on to become a producer and composer, working on TV and film scores – to rework César Dávila-Irizarry’s 1998 creation, now AHS’ iconic theme song.
But that’s not where American Horror Story’s musical connections end. While Clouser was behind the scenes, many musicians have appeared on the screen. Sure, staple stars over the show’s 12-and-counting seasons — such as Evan Peters, Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson — are actors who have appeared as various characters across multiple seasons. But the award-winning FX show has also featured music makers in everything from blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos to starring roles.
The most notable so far has been Lady Gaga, who played the undead Countess in Hotel, a starring role that earned her rave reviews and awards. And who could forget Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, who not only appeared as herself, but also performed some of the band’s hits on the show? As for the cameos, ‘80s heartthrob Rick Springfield also had a memorable role in one episode of Cult.
Then there are the AHS actors who have also either dabbled in or have a side gig in music. For example, both Connie Britton and Emma Roberts have scored entries on the Billboard charts.
Read on to learn about 20 of American Horror Story’s stars who also have musical careers both big and smaller, as well as the roles they played across the horror series’ dozen seasons.
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Connie Britton
Image Credit: Prashant Gupta/©FX Networks/courtesy Everett Collection Season: 1, Murder House
Character: Vivien HarmonBritton starred opposite Dylan McDermott as Vivien, who becomes pregnant with twins after they move into the Murder House to rebuild their marriage after his infidelity. But is it his baby (or babies) — or is it Rubber Man’s?
Though Britton is best known for her acting — she even nabbed a Primetime Emmy nod for her portrayal of Vivien — the star also has multiple entries on Billboard‘s charts from her five seasons on 2010s ABC country melodrama Nashville, landing duets with co-stars Charles Esten (“No One Will Ever Love You”) and Hayden Panettierre (“Wrong Song”) on the Hot Country Songs chart.
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Adam Levine
Image Credit: Michael Yarish/©FX Networks/courtesy Everett Collection Season: 2, Asylum
Character: Leo MorrisonThe Maroon 5 frontman had a three-episode arc, playing newlywed Leo, who went to an old, abandoned asylum named Briarcliff Manor with his wife as part of their honeymoon. Spoiler alert: It did not end well for the lovebirds.
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Stevie Nicks
Image Credit: Michele K. Short/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Season: 3, Coven; 8, Apocalypse
Character: HerselfThe celebrated singer-songwriter appeared as herself — a musical muse for Lily Rabe’s Misty Day — in two episodes; Nicks even performed Fleetwood Mac’s “Seven Wonders” in an episode of the same title. The musician returned in season eight to sing the band’s hit “Gypsy” for Misty.
Watch Nicks’ interview with Billboard about her role on AHS: Coven.
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Leslie Jordan
Image Credit: Michele K. Short/©FX Networks/courtesy Everett Collection Seasons: 3, Coven; 6, Roanoke; 9, 1984
Characters: Quentin Fleming (season three), Cricket Marlowe/Ashley Gilbert (season six), Courtney (season nine)The late actor — who was also a Billboard charting artist, with his Gospel-themed 2021 set Company’s Comin’ peaking at No. 13 on Top Christian Albums — played multiple roles in three seasons of the horror anthology. In his first guest starring role on AHS, Jordan portrayed a warlock who was part of Coven‘s Council of Witchcraft. He returned for Roanoke as psychic Cricket, who meets a grisly end — but also shows up toward the end of the season to portray a ghost hunter named Ashley Gilbert.
In his third and final season on the show, Jordan played Courtney, the personal assistant of Leslie Grossman’s Margaret. Unluckily for Courtney, his boss tasks him with dismembering and discarding the bodies of the murdered members of ’80s synth-pop hitmakers Kajagoogoo.
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Patti LuPone
Image Credit: Michele K. Short/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Seasons: 3, Coven; 11, NYC
Characters: Joan Ramsey (season three), Kathy Pizzaz (season 11)In Coven, two-time Grammy winner and Broadway star LuPone portrays the super religious Joan, who rises from the dead not thanks to God, but witchcraft, and goes on to kill her son after he learns she killed his father. In season 11, the star of stage and screen plays Kathy, a performer who owns of a bathhouse and tarot shop in 1980s NYC, during the height of the AIDS pandemic.
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Emma Roberts
Image Credit: Michele K. Short/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Seasons: 3, Coven; 4, Freak Show; 7, Cult; 8, Apocalypse; 9, 1984; 12, Delicate
Characters: Madison Montgomery (seasons three and eight), Maggie Esmerelda (season four), Serena Belinda (season seven), Brooke Thompson (season nine), Anna Victoria Alcott (season 12)Roberts may best be known as an actress, but thanks to her starring role in Nickelodeon’s teen sitcom Unfabulous, she’s also a Billboard charting artist, with the show’s 2005 soundtrack — featuring her singing — peaking at No. 17 on the Soundtracks tally and No. 10 on the Kid Albums list. Since her Nick days, she’s become a staple of Murphy and Falchuk’s horror anthology series, starring in six seasons to date.
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Mare Winningham
Image Credit: Michele K. Short/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Seasons: 3, Coven; 4, Freak Show; 5, Hotel; 7, Cult
Characters: Alicia Spencer (season three), Rita Gayheart (season four), Hazel Evers (season five), Sally Keffler (season seven)Like Roberts, the Oscar-nominated actress may be best known for her on-screen abilities, but Winningham has musical chops as well, and has released several albums — though she has yet to make her debut on the Billboard charts. In the world of AHS, she has played characters ranging from Rubber Man’s mom to a hotel laundress.
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Neil Patrick Harris
Image Credit: Michele K. Short/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Season: 4, Freak Show
Character: Chester CrebThe star of Broadway stage and screen — who peaked at No. 26 on the Hot 100 in 2010 thanks to his feature on the Glee Cast’s cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” — appeared on the series for two episodes. He portrayed a magician named Chester who, before joining the Freak Show, killed his wife and her lover in a jealous rage, and later sawed his assistant in half.
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Patti LaBelle
Image Credit: Michele K. Short/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Season: 4, Freak Show
Character: Dora BrownThe Godmother of Soul had a four-episode arc in which she portrayed maid Dora, who worked for psycho rich boy Dandy (Finn Wittrock). Like many AHS characters, Dora also met an unfortunate fate.
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Chrissy Metz
Image Credit: Sam Lothridge/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Season: 4, Freak Show
Character: Ima “Barbara” WigglesBefore the singer-actress — who signed her first recording contract with UMG Nashville in 2020 — made it big as one of the stars of NBC’s acclaimed drama This Is Us, she portrayed Barbara (a.k.a. Ima Wiggles, a.k.a. the carnival’s obese lady) on AHS: Freak Show for five episodes.
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Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Doug Hyun/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Season: 5, Hotel
Character: The CountessThe 13-time Grammy winner starred in the fifth season of AHS, portraying a brokenhearted aspiring actress named Elizabeth who is transformed into a vampire by her lovers, a married couple who faked their deaths after becoming bloodsuckers. The Countess eventually comes to own the Hotel Cortez, where she kills some people (of course), but also raises vampire children.
The role earned Gaga a Golden Globe in 2016 for best performance by an actress in a limited series or movie made for TV.
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Darren Criss
Image Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage Season: 5, Hotel
Character: JustinThe former Glee star — who reached No. 89 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart with his set A Very Darren Chrissmas in 2021 — had a brief, two-episode arc in which he portrayed a photographer named Justin, who (along with his girlfriend) headed to the Cortez for a stay. Hotel manager Iris (Kathy Bates) is less than impressed by the influencer couple, and serves them cat food when they order room service, before helping them … ahem … check out early.
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Cheyenne Jackson
Image Credit: Ray Mickshaw/©FX/courtesy Everett Collection Seasons: 5, Hotel; 6, Roanoke; 7, Cult; 8, Apocalypse
Characters: Will Drake (season five), Sydney James (season six), Rudy Vincent (season seven), John Henry Moore (season eight)The actor-singer — who earned a 2015 Grammy nod for his work on the West Side Story musical theater album — has had a wide range of roles on the FX horror series, from The Countess’ (Lady Gaga) lover in Hotel to a warlock who meets a fiery ending in Apocalypse.
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Rick Springfield
Image Credit: Tyler Golden/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images Season: 7, Cult
Character: Pastor CharlesThe Australian-American rock star — who earned both a Hot 100 No. 1 and a best rock vocal performance Grammy for the pop-rock classic “Jessie’s Girl” — appeared in the episode titled “Our Winter of Discontent” as a super-conservative “man of God” who tortured those he considered to be sinners.
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Billy Porter
Image Credit: antiago Felipe/Getty Images for ABA Season: 8, Apocalypse
Character: Behold ChablisThe Billboard-charting artist and Grammy-winning singer-actor portrayed the sassy warlock who taught at the Hawthorne School for Exceptional Young Men and is tasked with investigating a powerful young warlock’s origins at the Murder House from season one. (Behold later becomes a victim of that dangerous young warlock.)
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Sandra Bernhard
Image Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images Seasons: 8, Apocalypse; 11, NYC
Characters: Hannah (season eight), Fran (season 11)Bernhard may be best known for her acting and comedy, but the star has also released numerous albums and appeared on various Billboard charts, including a No. 13 peak on Dance Club Songs with her Sylvester cover “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and No. 40 on Heatseekers Albums with her Excuses for Bad Behavior LP. Her time on AHS kicked off with a one-episode cameo in Apocalypse, in which she play a priestess in a Satanic church. In season 11, she starred as Fran, a writer for the New York Native who believes that a new virus killing gay men is a biological weapon from the government.
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Matthew Morrison
Image Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Season: 9, 1984
Character: Trevor KirchnerThe former Glee star — whose 2011 self-titled album peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200 — played Camp Redwood’s activities director Trevor, who had a colorful professional history, and eventually became one of the camp’s ghosts.
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Zach Villa
Image Credit: Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection Season: 9, 1984
Character: Richard RamirezThe musician-actor — who is half of the alternative/electro-pop duo Rebel and a Basketcase with actress Evan Rachel Wood — had a juicy role in season nine: Richard Ramirez, the ’80s serial killer and rapist dubbed the Night Stalker, who murdered at least 13 people during his spree.
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Isaac Powell
Image Credit: ©FX / courtesy Everett Collection Seasons: 10, Double Feature; 11, NYC
Characters: Troy Lord (season 10), Theo Graves (season 11)The Broadway star — who earned a best musical theater Grammy nomination for his work on Once on This Island — first portrayed Troy, a college student who unwillingly becomes part of the government’s horrific program breeding alien-human hybrids. In season 11, Powell played photographer Theo Graves, boyfriend of rich art curator Sam (Zachary Quinto).
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Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
Image Credit: Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images Season: 12, Delicate
Character: NicoletteThe Pose singer-actress, who is working on a pop/R&B album, made her AHS debut in part one of season 12. She portrayed Nicolette, a single mother who manages the Hamptons house Anna Victoria (Emma Roberts) and husband Dex (Matt Czuchry) are staying at.