Kat Graham Shares Why She Partnered With GLAAD for Her New Album Long Hot Summer
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Get ready to add some new songs to your Pride playlist.
Actress and musician Kat Graham (aka Toro Gato) teamed up with the LGBTQ+ media organization GLAAD for her brand-new album, Long Hot Summer, and she dished all about it on E! News' Daily Pop.
"It is such a fun album about liberation," she told hosts Loni Love and Jai Rodriguez. "I wanted to do something for Pride for many, many years. I wanted to do something that would benefit GLAAD. I've been on the council since like 2009."
In honor of Pride, Graham is donating the album's proceeds to GLAAD, which fights against LGBTQ+ defamation in entertainment and media.
"When I hear the word ‘ally,' I'm like, ‘I'm not like an ally,' like ‘This is our community. If it affects one person, it affects all of us," she said. "I wanted this album to be fun and dance and party and empowering and all about being sexually free and owning who you are and all of those things, but I needed it to have a purpose."
The album also represents Graham's journey in the entertainment industry: She played her music in small clubs and venues until she made her big break as Bonnie Bennett on The Vampire Diaries.
"I booked this show, and my music really slowed down a bit," she told Daily Pop. "I had a couple cool hits, and then I really wanted to have this era."
Just as she's celebrating all kinds of love through her new music, Graham is celebrating love in her own life, as she recently got engaged to boyfriend Darren Genet in April.
"He was my director," Graham recalled about how she and her fiancé first met. "We were working together for many, many years, and I'm like, ‘I think I'm in love with you.'
Though she has no wedding date in mind, Graham did reveal the adorable thing she's managed to check off her wedding planning checklist.
"The only thing I have is a very, very tiny wedding dress for my miniature pinscher, Izzy," she joked. "That's done. But other than that, no, no, I don't have anything."
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As for whether her creative alter ego Toro Gato will be in attendance on her big day? "Probably," she said. "I haven't figured out the invites, but probably."
Check out the full interview above.
Long Hot Summer is available now on music streaming platforms.
