Top 10 Former Disney Stars with the Most Successful Music Careers

Unlike many of the others on our list, golden haired singer and actor Ross Lynch was making waves as a musician before taking a role on his first Disney production. The Colorado native has been a member of the pop rock band R5 since 2009, a full two years before he scored the lead role on the Disney Channel comedy “Austin & Ally”. During his time on the show, Lynch not only took home multiple awards for his performance but also continued to hone his skills as a singer and guitarist. While Lynch has also released songs as a solo artist, he’s best known for the work he’s put in as R5’s lead singer .

Zendaya has appeared in so many Disney TV shows and movies it’s impossible for us to list them all, however, it goes without saying that she is best known for her roles on “Shake It Up” and “K.C. Undercover”. In 2017 she scored the highly coveted role of MJ in “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, a film produced by Marvel Studios which is, wait for it, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Of course she wouldn’t be on our list unless she’d made some waves as a musician; and boy has she ever . Her self-titled debut album made it to number 51 on the US Billboard 200 chart while the lead single cracked the top 40.

Can these guys just get back together already? Brothers Nick, Kevin and Joe teamed up in 2005 to form the pop rock trio the Jonas Brothers and quickly found a spot in the hearts and minds of teens and young adults around the world. Of course most people know them best for their time on the Disney Channel, where they appeared in a number of productions, most notable of which were “Camp Rock” and “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam”. The Grammy nominated band decided to part ways in 2013 but all three have been doing just fine as solo acts ever since.

Duff rose to fame in the early 2000’s thanks to her time on the Disney Channel series “Lizzie McGuire”. She translated that success into a career as a pop singer, releasing a couple of platinum selling albums in 2003 and 2004 respectively . To say that she’s one of the best selling former Disney stars of all time would be an understatement, as she’s sold 15 million records throughout her career. While she took an extended hiatus from music in 2007 to focus on her film career and personal life, her 2015 album “Breath In. Breath Out” brought her back into the limelight . We can’t wait to see what’s next for this multi-talented entertainer!

Demi Lovato stole the show as Mitchie Torres in Disney’s “Camp Rock” before landing the lead role in the Disney Channel sitcom “Sonny with a Chance”. From there she began her ascent to the top of the pop music food chain, releasing hit song after hit song from 2008 onward. To date she has six full length albums under her belt, with 2009’s “Here We Go Again” making it all the way to number one on the Billboard 200 chart. With a Grammy nomination to her name and a seemingly endless supply of hit songs, Demi Lovato is one former Disney star that shows no signs of slowing down!

Singer, actor, producer, social media star; Selena Gomez can seemingly do it all. Of course it all started when she landed the role of Alex Russo on Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” . The show served as the Texas native’s springboard, helping her launch a highly successful musical career than began when she formed her first band, Selena Gomez & the Scene . The group released three albums before Gomez decided to go solo. The move would prove to be extremely fruitful, as Gomez’s first two albums, “Stars Dance” and “Revival” both debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Still in her 20’s, there’s no reason to suggest Gomez will be slowing down anytime soon .

Miley Cyrus’ transition from a Disney teen idol to a full-fledged sex symbol has been well documented. The singer and actress left her star-making role of “Hannah Montana” in the dust and in 2013 embarked on a music-making journey that would lead to a Grammy nomination for her chart-topping album “Bangerz” . Of course we’d be remiss not to mention the fact that “Bangerz” was simply the exclamation point on a musical career that already included three full-length studio albums and three world tours. A triple platinum singer with nothing but open space in front of her, this former Disney star is poised for one hell of a musical career

As a teenager Christina Aguilera’s big break came when she joined “The All New Mickey Mouse Club” in 1993. Her time on the show allowed her to showcase her tremendous musical ability and in 1999 she released her eponymous debut album. The album announced her arrival with a bang, earning the Grammy for Best New Artist and cementing Aguilera as one of pop’s brightest young stars. Since then she’s released six additional albums, toured the world multiple times and won five Grammy Awards. With countless classic songs under her belt and record sales in the tens of millions we think it’s safe to say Aguilera has been a solid Disney export.

Christina Aguilera wasn’t the only one who benefited from her time on “The All New Mickey Mouse Club”. Britney Spears appeared on the show for several seasons before jumping ship in order to pursue a career in music… and the rest as they say is history. Spears wasted absolutely no time becoming the biggest pop star on the planet, dropping hit album after hit album en route to becoming one of the best selling artists in music history . While there’s no denying the fact that her career went off the rails in the late 2000’s, she found a way to clean herself up and in 2016 her album “Glory” peaked at number 3 in the US.









Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:



Bridgit Mendler







Laura Marano







Sabrina Carpenter

Yet another future pop star who can trace his roots back to the “All New Mickey Mouse Club”, Justin Timberlake’s spot on our list was never in doubt. First as a member of NSYNC and later as a solo artist, JT has achieved the kind of widespread acclaim most of us can only dream of. He has won ten Grammys, four Emmys and been nominated for numerous other awards. He has produced multiple chart topping albums and is such a recognizable commodity that he was able to take a six year musical hiatus and still have his comeback album make it to number one!