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Culture > Entertainment

Cory Monteith is Still Inspiring Lea Michele’s Music

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Catherine Lowe

You might want to grab some tissues for this one, collegiettes. Ever since the devastating death of 31-year-old Glee star Cory Monteith in 2013, fans have been mourning alongside Lea Michele. In 2014, Lea used Cory’s passing as inspiration to create new music with a song called “If You Say So” from her album Louder, which broke all our hearts.

In a recent interview with Billboard, Lea says that Cory continues to inspire her music every day. She even used a book that Stevie Nicks gave her after his death to help her write her new album Places.

“I poured myself the biggest glass of red wine, I put Fleetwood Mac on my vinyl, I lit candles, and I legit started praying and looking for a sign,” Michele says. “I have this incredible book that Stevie Nicks gave me in 2013 when my boyfriend died. She gave me this art book of hers that she put notes in over the years and song lyrics, and then she rewrote personal notes for me that say things like, ‘Keep singing, and have faith.'”

Praying for answers while looking through the book, Lea came across a sentence that said, “The only thing that matters is you, and who you are.” After seeing that quote, what Lea had been trying to do with the entire record—connect to where she came from—became clear. Lea saw this as the inspiration she needed to make Places her most personal album yet.

Now we’re anxiously waiting for the release of this sure-to-be amazing album. We will always love Lea Michele for her strength and courage and the fact that she turned a tragedy into something positive. Lea and Cory forever <3 

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Catherine is an ambitious twenty-something woman living in Rock Hill, South Carolina where she attends Winthrop University as a mass communication major. She is the President and Campus Correspondent for Her Campus at Winthrop, which she co-founded in November 2014. She has also been a member of the Winthrop chapter of the Association for Women in Communications, and is currently the President of the Society of Professional Journalists chapter at Winthrop. Since being involved with Her Campus, Catherine received an internship at Her Campus Media in Boston, MA. She also currently works as a Chapter Advisor for the company and writes about Grey's Anatomy each week for the site. Because of Her Campus, she has also received writing positions at many publications throughout her 3 years at Winthrop. Outside of her busy lifestyle, Catherine enjoys relaxing with her friends on the weekends and having Sex and the City marathons. She can't live without her dog, family, Cosmopolitan, friends, Starbucks, Instagram, The Bachelor, Grey's Anatomy and of course Chick-fil-A. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter: @cathclowe!