Karen (Lucy) Lucille Hale was born on June 14, 1989 in Memphis, Tennessee to Julia Knight and John Preston Hale. She is the youngest of 3 children. She attended Cordova Optional School in Memphis and was home-schooled after her family moved to Los Angeles, California. Hale began her entertainment career as a singer appearing on American Juniors in 2003 which was a show about a producer searching for band members to sign to a record deal. Her performance singing the 1980s hit “Call Me” successfully won her a place in the band but it disbanded in 2005.
Hale turned to acting and has had a successful career. She is best known for her roles in television shows such as Privileged and Pretty Little Liars. On the ABC Family series, Hale portrayed the role of Aria Montgomery, who is a 16-year-old girl that shares a heavy load of secrets between her and a group of friends. In her early career she made appearances in How I Met Your Mother, The O.C., Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh and Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place. In 2008 Hale made her big screen debut in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, playing Effie, the younger sister of Alexis Bledel’s character, Lena Kaligaris. In 2011 she had a cameo in Scream 4. Hale once said, “Music is my first love and though acting work keeps me busy, I’m always working on my music career as well” and in June of 2012 she signed a record deal with Hollywood Records. She released her first studio country album ‘Road Between’, in 2014 and featured singles “You Sound Good to Me” and “Lie a Little Better.” In 2018 she returned to the horror genre, this time starring in Truth or Dare.