Lea Michele with Cory Monteith
Lea Michele has found inspiration in the late Cory Monteith to write a song.
The 'Glee' star is set to release her debut album 'Louder' in March 2014 and has included a track that she wrote with Australian singer/songwriter Sia in memory of her late boyfriend who died of an accidental heroin and alcohol overdose in July at the age of just 31.
Lea has credited Sia for inspiring her to channel her grief into a track.
During an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, the actress revealed: "After everything happened I met with Sia, who's incredible, and she said, 'Do you want to write anything about this?' I think one of the hardest things is the feeling like you're going to forget everything, so I felt it was important to just take a moment to see what we could come up with. We came up with a beautiful song called 'If You Say So' that I wrote about Cory."
Lea, 27, unveiled her first single from 'Louder', mid-tempo track 'Cannonball' which was written by Sia, earlier this week.
The star believes the song was perfect to be included on the tracklisting for the album as it encompassed her feelings about Cory - who played her on-screen boyfriend Finn Hudson in 'Glee' - and her tough experiences over the past year.
Lea - who plays Rachel Berry in the musical show - said: "In that same meeting she [Sia] said to me, 'But how are you feeling in this moment right now?' I explained to her you know how grief really just ... you can get sucked into it. You can literally lose yourself if you don't actually die from it, you can lose yourself completely. And I said to her, 'I need to get out. I need to get out of my house. He would want me to live my life. I have to do this.' She said, 'Oh, that's so crazy because I wrote this song, it's called 'Cannonball' and you just said the lyrics.' She played it for me, and the minute I heard the song, it lifted me up. It picked me up from everything."
Lea postponed the release of her debut album - which she completed in June - following Cory's death, and is glad her late lover got to hear many of her songs before his passing.
Tagged in Sia Lea Michele Cory Monteith