All but two one teen dramas have main characters who are also musicians/singers.
On Beverly Hills 90210, we got our first real taste of David’s musical inclinations in season 3 when he started recording his own music and later performing at the Beverly Hills Beach Club. The storyline continued for a decent part of the season with David nearly having a record deal. At the end of season 4, David got a taste of the music life again when he toured with real-life musician Babyface. In season 8, David joined the band Jasper’s Law for a short time, which introduced us to “Keep It Together”–which I absolutely loved and still do. In an episode in the tenth season, Janet reunited with college friends and played the bass at the After Dark.
On Dawson’s Creek, Joey’s vocal talents were first revealed in season one when she performs a moving rendition of “Own My Own” for a beauty pageant. In the fifth season, Joey played with a band featuring Chad Michael Murray’s Charlie. After a few gigs, he asked her to come on tour but she declined. In the next season, Audrey fronts an all-female rock band but as her drinking spirals out of control, she has no choice but to give it up. Near the end of the series, we get one more performance from her: a beautiful, understated and haunting performance of Zakk Wylde’s “Way Beyond Empty.”
One Tree Hill has had the most musical characters by far, showcasing the talents of recurring character Jake and, more notably, Haley in the first season. Haley’s music career was a big storyline in season 2, where she performed–among other things–a duet, “When The Stars Go Blue,” with Chris Keller and later toured with him and real-life band The Wreckers. Haley gave up music for a while, though we saw her perform with another real-life band, Enation, in season 6. There’s a bigger focus on Haley’s music in the first half of season 7, where Haley has released an album and toured again, performing songs that were actually created by Bethany Joy Galeotti’s band Everly. Season 5 and season 7 introduced two more musically-inclined characters, Mia and Grubbs, but they weren’t main characters.
90210 also featured musical performances very early on with Annie and Adrianna being in the school production of Spring Awakening. Earlier this season, Adrianna serenaded Navid and has since started taking music quite seriously, writing and recording songs and performing with pop sensation, Javier, who is played by real-life musician Diego Boneta. Their duet, as far as I know, doesn’t have known title, but is called “One More Time” and I absolutely love it, and Jessica Lowndes most recently performed two of her own songs.
The O.C. and Gossip Girl have both featured real-life musical artists and the GG cast even has some who are building a music career, but neither show The O.C. hasn’t had actual main characters who were performers.
As noted below by Misty and Alyssa, there are two I left out: Beverly Hills 90210’s Ray and Gossip Girl’s Rufus.
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