AJ Michalka

AJ Michalka is an actress, singer-songwriter, and musician whose career spans music, television, and film. Michalka is known as one half of the pop duo Aly & AJ, alongside her sister Aly Michalka. The duo signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records after an audition featuring six original acoustic guitar songs. They released their debut album, "Into the Rush," which was certified Gold by the RIAA. Subsequent albums include "Acoustic Hearts of Winter" and "Insomniatic," the latter featuring the Platinum single "Potential Breakup Song," a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

After a period of musical reinvention performing as 78violet, the duo returned to their original name and released the extended plays "Ten Years" and "Sanctuary," followed by the studio albums "A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun" and "With Love From." "A Touch of the Beat" marked their first studio album in 14 years following "Insomniatic." Billboard included the album among the best albums of the first half of the year, and The Guardian placed it at number 35 in its list of the 50 best albums.

In film, Michalka has appeared in titles such as "The Lovely Bones," "Secretariat," "Super 8," "Grace Unplugged," "Weepah Way for Now," and "Support the Girls." Her first starring film role was as the title character in "Grace Unplugged." She also recorded the theme song and music video for "Secretariat," titled "It's Who You Are."

On television, Michalka held a recurring role on the ABC sitcom "The Goldbergs" as Lainey Lewis and was promoted to series regular in the third season. She also played Lainey in a lead role on the spinoff series "Schooled," which ran for two seasons.

In voice acting, Michalka provided the voice of Catra in the Netflix animated series "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power," a reboot that reimagined the character as a nuanced anti-heroine. Showrunner ND Stevenson noted that Michalka's portrayal influenced the character's development. She also voiced Stevonnie in "Steven Universe."

Michalka competed in season 12 of "The Masked Singer" as Strawberry Shortcake, finishing in third place. She was cast in the fourth season of HBO's Emmy Award-winning series "The White Lotus." With a career that bridges pop music, television, film, and voice acting, Michalka is recognized for her versatility across the entertainment industry.