New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Broadway veteran, Billboard dance sensation and People Magazine's first-ever gay "Hottest Bachelor" Matt Zarley has received critical acclaim as an LGBT artist for over a decade since his debut on the music scene.
Fresh off his single with Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner, Billy Porter (Pose), Matt has now joined forces with acclaimed indie artist and frequent collaborator, Jeb Havens, to release their reimagined, anthemic rendition of the
Kelly Clarkson self-empowerment pop classic, "
Stronger". In addition to producing the track, Zarley produced, directed, and edited the music video; which features a cast of 50+ students and parents from Canoga Park High School. The video was shot on location at the school two weeks before the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Zarley says "If we had to delay shooting a week, we probably wouldn't have been able to complete this. I can't imagine being a high school senior and not getting to experience those special end of school year moments that you've been looking forward to for the past 4 years. I feel so bad for these kids. This entire situation is just awful." To honor all of the incredible educators and awesome students, Zarley & Havens decided to dedicate the video to the class of 2020.
In addition to the single and music video, an extensive set of remixes will be released over the summer. Some of the biggest names in dance music are on board and contributing to the set.
Matt Zarley made his theatrical debut at 17 years old in CATS, at that time the youngest to ever perform in the mega blockbuster. His Broadway career continued with roles in CHICAGO, A CHORUS LINE, THE WHO'S TOMMY, and JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT. TV appearances include Disney's Cinderella (w/ Whitney Houston), Geppetto (w/ Drew Carey) &
Annie (w/ Kathy Bates), The Drew Carey Show, Fame, The
Tonight Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and Smash, among others. An award winning, 4 time Billboard charting recording artist, his albums include: Debut, Here I Am (2008 Billboard Critics Top Ten and American Idol Top 20 Songwriter), and Change Begins With Me (2012 OUTMusic Award for Album & Single Of The Year and #1 for a month on the Eurochart.) He also has the distinction of being the first openly gay man featured in People Magazine's Hottest Bachelors annual issue. He added filmmaker to his resume a few years ago when he released hopefulROMANTIC, an original musical short film he wrote, produced, and starred in.
Internet phenom and Star Trek star,
George Takei also appeared in the award winning film, which played dozens of international film festivals including Cannes, Mumbai, Montreal, and several stateside festivals. It's now available on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Revry. Shortly after that successful run, Matt went on to produce his first all cover song album, which was the first album he produced solely on his own. The Estrogen Sessions, is a tribute to some of pop music's most prolific female artists featuring the songs they made famous. "
I Will Always Love You", "
That's The Way It Is", "
Gravity", and "
I Look To You" are just a few of the tunes featured on the set. Matt has been co-creating a children's project for the past couple of years and has several other exciting projects in development.
Jeb Havens is an international recording artist and songwriter. His music is a blend of catchy pop and raw emotional therapy. His latest album, "Home Base" was named Top 5 of LGBT
Music for 2016. BuzzFeed raves "Seriously….someone get this guy a record deal already."
