Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer and Jenna Ushkowitz play original New Directions members Artie Abrams, Mercedes Jones, Kurt Hummel and Tina Cohen-Chang.

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series produced by Fox. It focuses on the glee club New Directions, at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio.^[1] The show was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, and features many cover versions of songs sung on-screen by the characters.^[2] Murphy is responsible for selecting all of the songs used, and strives to maintain a balance between show tunes and chart hits, as he wants there to be "something for everybody in every episode."^[3] Once Murphy selects a song, rights are cleared with its publishers by music supervisor P.J. Bloom, and music producer Adam Anders rearranges it for the Glee cast.^[4] Numbers are pre-recorded by the cast, while choreographer Zach Woodlee constructs the accompanying dance moves, which are then taught to the cast and filmed.^[3] Studio recordings of tracks are then made. The process begins six to eight weeks before each episode is filmed, and can end as late as the day before filming begins.^[4] For the first thirteen episodes of Glee's first season, the show averaged five songs per episode, which increased to eight songs for the final nine episodes. In season two, Glee will return to featuring five songs per episode.^[5]

Songs featured on the show are available for digital download through iTunes up to two weeks before new episodes air, and through other digital outlets and mobile carriers a week later.^[4] The season will feature two tribute episodes, showcasing songs by Britney Spears and a second artist yet to be announced, which will air after Super Bowl XLV in February 2011.^[6] There will also be an episode featuring songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show,^[7] and another featuring original songs.^[8] Glee: The Music, The Rocky Horror Glee Show, an extended play (EP) with songs from the fifth episode, will be released October 19, 2010.^[9][10] Another EP will be released that features songs from the Super Bowl episode, as well as two soundtrack volumes: one in the fall and the other in the spring.^[11][12]

The majority of songs are performed by New Directions, which is composed of Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale), Brittany (Heather Morris), Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr), Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz), Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron), Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) and Noah Puckerman (Mark Salling), plus club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison). During season two, New Directions will be joined by athlete Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet), who officially joins the club during the third episode of the season^[13], and McKinley High foreign exchange student Sunshine Corazon (Charice Pempengco) transfers to rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline of Carmel High School.^[14][15][16] Jayma Mays will perform as school guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury,^[17] and guest star John Stamos will also perform as Dr. Carl Howell.^[18]

• List of songs in Glee (season 1)
• Glee Cast discography