Lucy Hale Biography: In Her Own Words – Video Exclusive, News, Photos

Lucy Hale Biography

Lucy Hale (born Karen Lucille Hale) is an actress and singer, known for being one of the five winners of American Juniors, a reality show in the vein of American Idol, and portraying Aria Montgomery on the hit ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars.

Lucy Hale on American Juniors and Music Career

Hale had been interested in the performing arts from an early age, and her mother paid for acting and singing lessons for the young girl. Hale refers to music as her first love, and she managed to get on to the series American Juniors which was a short lived reality series that aired in 2003, on the heels of the very successful American Idol. Ryan Seacrest and Gladys Knight presented the show along with guest judges that included Knight, Justin Guarini, Nick Carter, Lamont Dozier, Mary Wilson, Brian McKnight, Jordan Knight, Monica and Diane Warwick. Rather than adults, the contestants were only children and teens, and the search pool was limited to only 2,000 which would be cut down to 20. From there America would vote on the remaining kids until a group of five would be formed. The group of winners were Lucy Hale, Tori Thompson, Taylor Thompson, Chauncey Matthew, and Danielle White.

Though Hale focused on acting following American Juniors, she would return to music. In 2012, Hale signed a record deal with Hollywood Records and began work on a country album. In January of 2014 she released her debut single “You Sound Good to Me” and followed it up with her debut album Road Between in June. Both were well received critically and commercially, with Hale receiving favorable comparisons to her influences Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Britney Spears.

Kristian Bush of Sugarland said, “She sounds like Carrie Underwood—strong with a blues side and a pop side to it. And a lot like Faith Hill.”

Lucy Hale Acting Career

Following her success on American Juniors, Hale, only 15 at the time, moved out to Los Angeles. She found more to do in acting, appearing in an episode of The O.C., and getting recurring roles on The Bionic Woman and Privileged.

Hale also made her way into films. She appeared in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 alongside Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively and Rachel Nichols. In 2011, she had a cameo in Scream 4.

Of course, fans most know her for her role of Aria Montgomery on the series Pretty Little Liars which aired for seven years before ending in 2017.

Recently, Hale starred in the 2018 horror film Truth or Dare and the 2021 rom-com The Hating Game.

When she spoke to uInterview, Hale commented on the strange turn her career took—away from music and towards acting.

“I started out in music and then, sort of, acting was a surprise to me,” Hale told uInterview exclusively. “It was a surprise that I fell in love with it.

Lucy Hale Sobriety

In 2023, Hale publicly announced her more than ten-year battle with alcoholism; the actress had been trying to get sober since she was 20 years old when Pretty Little Liars first aired. On Valentines Day, she posted a photo of a cake with the words “One Year” written on it and explained the celebration in the caption.

“This is a post about self-love and about the greatest thing I’ve ever done,” wrote Hale. “On January 2, 2023, I celebrated one year of sobriety.”

Hale has since opened up about her road to recovery in numerous interviews, with the hopes of inspiring her fans to get the help they need, too.

Lucy Hale Interview

We interviewed Hale in 2014 while she was promoting both the fifth season of Pretty Little Liars and her just-released album Road Between.

“I think a lot of people thought I was going to go in a different direction and just being a part of a commercially popular show, I think they just assumed that I would go, you know, that way, but at heart I’ve always, I mean I’m from the south, I grew up on country music,” Hale revealed to uInterview. “There really was no other option for me. It kind of was the only way to go.”