We can’t promise that you’ll see all of the stars of The Vampire Diaries once the show ends, but you can at least hear quite a few of them!
The cast members of The Vampire Diaries have proven that they have an aptitude for staking their enemies, drinking blood, casting spells, and even transforming into werewolves, but they also have other talents, believe it or not. Many of them, in fact, share the same talent for music!
Related: 10 most romantic musical moments on The Vampire Diaries
Although music isn’t a huge aspect of the plot of The Vampire Diaries, it is usually a highlight. The soundtrack is fantastic and you’re all but guaranteed to pick up a new song, or two, from each episode. With this complete guide, however, you can dive even further into the world of The Vampire Diaries music by checking out what the actual cast members are creating. Happy listening!
Kat Graham — Bonnie Bennett
Kat Graham, who portrays our favorite Bennett witch, has a passion for music that has been a huge focus for her over the past few years. In 2015, she self-produced (along with musical legend, Babyface… no big deal) her first full length album, Roxbury Drive. Prior to that, she’d released several singles and an EP in 2012, titled, Against the Wall.
Graham’s music fits well into many categories, including R&B, pop and dance. Most of her music is very fun and upbeat, like her latest single, “All Your Love,” below. If you’re looking for more dance tracks from Graham, check out “Heartkiller” from Against the Wall or 1991 from Roxbury Drive. To hear something a little more melodic, I highly recommend the beautiful ballad, “Secrets,” which features Babyface.
In addition to her work with Babyface, Graham also had a close friendship and working relationship with Prince, so this girl has some serious music powerhouses behind her. Expect big things from Kat Graham in a post Vampire Diaries world!
Michael Malarkey — Enzo St. John
You might notice that Michael Malarkey’s latest single, “Scars,” sounds familiar. That’s because it was recently featured in The Vampire Diaries season 8, episode 8, as Damon Salvatore pondered his latest existential crisis, and Stefan descended back into ripperdom.
Related: The Vampire Diaries 8×08 recap: The real founding family
Just like Enzo, Malarkey knows his way around a guitar (Bonnie has a great teacher). His music has an acoustic, folk-y style that features his gorgeous, deep vocals and his own insane guitar skills.
On Michael Malarkey’s EPs, Feed the Flames (2014) and Knots (2015), you can find the occasional fun, up-tempo jam, like “Everything’s Burned,” and many beautiful, haunting melodies, like “Scars,” below. I also highly recommend you give “Holes” and “Dancing in the Grey,” from the Knots EP, a listen!
Candice King (formerly Accola) — Caroline Forbes
We’ve actually witnessed Caroline take the mic a few times over the course of The Vampire Diaries, but Candice King, herself, was rocking out long before she earned her fangs. In 2006, she released a full length album, It’s Always the Innocent Ones.
The album is filled with delicious, early 2000s style, pop songs, that will transport you back to the era of flip phones, Myspace and AIM. Unfortunately, her singing career never really took off, so there was never a follow up album. Luckily, we still get to hear her sing as Caroline, from time to time, and binge listen to It’s Always the Innocent Ones, while remembering the good old days.
Top picks from King’s musical repertoire are “Something to Say,” “Yesterday is Gone,” and her cover of American Hi-Fi’s, “The Break-Up Song” (Candice’s version is called, “Our Break-Up Song”). You can hear it in the fan made video, below!
Marguerite MacIntyre — Liz Forbes
Like mother, like daughter! Caroline isn’t the only Forbes who could hold her own in a riff off. Marguerite MacIntyre, the actress who brought Liz Forbes to life (before… you know *tear*) has just as much talent, but uses it for an entirely different genre of music.
MacIntyre has been in several Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including Jane Eyre, City of Angels, and No Way to Treat a Lady. Listen to her performing “One of the Beautiful People,” below.
Nina Dobrev — Elena Gilbert (among others)
That’s right, even our leading lady has dipped her toes into the musical waters! Well… sort of. Just before she ascended to The Vampire Diaries fame, she starred in MTV’s, The American Mall. If you haven’t seen it, think High School Musical, but set at a mall.
As the lead female character, she had many a note to belt. However, it’s pretty evident that her voice has been heavily mixed and/or altered, in most cases. She has spoken about singing in the movie, but she’s actually not even listed as a performer on the movie’s soundtrack for her character’s power ballad, “Survivor.” Nevertheless, you can still watch her perform the hell out of what may as well be Katherine Pierce’s anthem!
Persia White — Abby Bennett Wilson
The Forbes family isn’t the only one with the music gene in The Vampire Diaries. The Bennett line can carry a tune just as gracefully as they can light a candle. Persia White, who played Bonnie’s estranged mother, Abby Bennett Wilson, released a full length album, Mecca, in 2009. Several of her songs have been featured in her new TV series, Girlfriends.
Unlike Kat Graham’s, White’s music isn’t easy to classify. It’s a cool mixture of many instruments, electronic sounds, and White’s haunting voice. Listen for yourself, below, and see what you think.
Jasmine Guy — Sheila Bennett
Like grandmother, like granddaughter! Just imagine Bonnie and Sheila taking a break from practicing magic to work on a track for their badass R&B duo. Can you picture it? We sure can. If you can’t, maybe watching Guy strut her stuff in a canyon with some construction workers and fish net sleeves will help. Work it, Sheila!
Guy released a self-titled R&B album in 1990 which featured three tracks that reached the Top 40 on Billboard’s Hot R&B Singles chart. These included, “Try Me,” “Just Want to Hold You,” and “Another Like My Lover” (below).
Malese Jow — Anna Zhu
Although Malese Jow doesn’t seem to have any formal releases, you can check out a lot of her original music on her own Myspace page. We recommend “Red Light,” which has a very Selena Gomez vibe. Their voices even sound similar!
Chris Brochu — Luke Parker
You obviously recognize Chris Brochu from his role as Gemini twin, Luke Parker on The Vampire Diaries, but you might also recognize him from the Disney Channel Original Movie, Lemonade Mouth.
You can hear his voice as the character of Ray Beech on many songs from the Lemonade Mouth soundtrack, but Brochu is also a songwriter! He released the Life EP in 2015, and several singles, since then. Check out the (really good) folk/pop song, “What’s Coming to You,” below.
Grace Phipps — April Young
Just like Brochu, Grace Phipps, aka April Young, was the star of a Disney Channel Original Movie musical! Two of them, in fact. Phipps played the starring role of Lela in Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach Movie 2. You can hear her all over the soundtrack for these two movies, but she’s yet to release anything independently, unfortunately.
