Whatever happened to Drew Seeley, the guy who sung for Zac Efron in High School Musical?

I remember the moment I learned that the angelic voice harmonising with Vanessa Hudgens (real ones will remember when she was Vanessa ANNE Hudgens) in High School Musical's transcendent banger 'Breaking Free' was not, in fact, entirely Zac Efron's.

It shattered everything my 13-year-old self thought I knew, and it gave me trust issues. Thankfully, it did not shatter a now 18-year crush on Efron. But boy oh boy, was it discombobulating. So if this is how you are finding out, I am so sorry.

Troy Bolton's vocals throughout the first High School Musical movie were in fact from a man named Drew Seeley, whose singing voice was blended into Efron's in post-production.

Watch: Drew Seeley gets his head in the game during High School Musical: The Concert. Post continues below.

Yes, Drew Seeley was gettin' his head in the game. Drew Seeley thought it could be the start of something new. And most of all, Drew Seeley was soarin', flyin'. 

There wasn't a star in heaven that Drew Seeley couldn't reach.

Efron took back Troy's voice to sing solo in the second and third films, but for a time, the Seeley revelation launched him into worldwide teen fame. He filled in for Efron on the tours of High School Musical: The Concert because Efron was busy filming Hairspray at the time, and then morphed into one of the classic mid-2000s Disney kids.

In 2021, he responded to a TikTok question after whether he regretted lending his vocals to the role, even though he did not get to actually play Troy Bolton.

"Yeah, I mean, I did audition for it," he said. "Any actor would have loved that role, but Zac did a great job. He was the right man for the job."

He said that he "did get to do the tours", so "everybody wins".

After HSM, he sang on a bunch of Disney soundtracks and compilation albums, played a pop star in the 2008 film Another Cinderella Story alongside Selena Gomez and Jane Lynch, played the best Disney prince, Prince Eric, on Broadway and led a horror film.

But mostly, Seeley had an incredible flash-in-the-pan pop culture moment and then - probably helped by Efron contributing his own vocals to 'Bet On It' in the second film - dropped out of the (very intense) teen idol spotlight that catapulted him into the consciousness of girls everywhere.

Seeley released his debut album The Resolution in 2011 and went on to star in several made-for-TV-movies, as well as perform songs featured in them.

In 2013 he married TV host Amy Paffrath and they welcomed their first child in 2019.

But mostly, he's made one of the great career pivots: to Hallmark (Hallmark-esque) Christmas rom-coms, with films that have titles like Write Before Christmas and Christmas Movie Magic.

In 2022, simply because he had no Christmas movie to share, he released a holiday song called 'Piece of my Heart', and in 2023, he not only starred in a movie called Our Christmas Wedding, but he also appeared as Jamie - that's Colin Firth's character - in a Beverly Hills' live show of Love Actually.

If Disney ever plans a Christmas HSM spin-off (honestly, I'd be here for it), you know who to call.

Feature Image: Getty/Disney Channel.