Most TV theme songs come from outside composers or studio musicians who never appear on screen. Every so often, though, a network or studio hands the microphone to the actual actor at the center of the story, and the result becomes inseparable from the show itself. These ten openings prove that when a cast member sings their own theme, the song tends to stick around a lot longer than the series does.
1. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – Will Smith
Long before Will Smith became a movie star, he was rapping his own backstory into millions of living rooms every week. The lyrics were composed by rapper and sitcom star Will Smith, performing under his stage name the Fresh Prince, and the song was produced by Jeffrey Townes under his stage name DJ Jazzy Jeff. The whole thing came together almost absurdly fast for something so enduring.
DJ Jazzy Jeff said the pair went into the studio and made the theme song in about 15 minutes, since the concept behind the show was already laid out. That casual studio session produced arguably the most quoted TV intro of the 1990s, one that fans still recite word for word decades later.
2. Hannah Montana – Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus did not just star in Hannah Montana, she recorded its signature song in character as her own alter ego. “The Best of Both Worlds” is a song by fictional character Hannah Montana, recorded by American singer and actress Miley Cyrus for the soundtrack of the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana and used as its theme song.
The track did more than open episodes. “The Best of Both Worlds” is the theme song of the television series, and in the series’ third season, the 2009 Movie Mix is used as the theme. Nearly two decades after the show premiered, Cyrus still performs it in public, a sign of how tightly the song is woven into her career.
3. Wizards of Waverly Place – Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez turned her theme song into something bigger than a simple intro. “Everything Is Not What It Seems” is the theme song to Wizards of Waverly Place, performed by the series’ leading star Selena Gomez.
The song evolved along with the show. For the fourth and final season, the theme was remixed and is now performed by Selena Gomez & the Scene. When the sequel series arrived years later, producers brought Gomez back in a supporting role on the new version, a nice bit of continuity for longtime viewers.
4. iCarly – Miranda Cosgrove and Drake Bell
iCarly gave two of its young stars a shared songwriting credit before either had released solo music. “Leave It All to Me” is the debut single by American actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove featuring Drake Bell.
Cosgrove had never recorded professionally before this. Cosgrove, who starred as Carly Shay on the Nickelodeon show iCarly, was asked by the show’s producers to record a theme song for the series at age thirteen. The song went on to serve as the opening for the 2021 revival as well, giving it an unusually long shelf life for a kids’ show theme.
5. Drake & Josh – Drake Bell
Drake Bell doubled up on theme song duty during his Nickelodeon years, and Drake & Josh gave him a solo showcase. The show’s opening track, “I Found a Way,” was written and performed by Bell himself, tying directly into his budding recording career at the time. It fit the show’s tone well, playing like a garage rock anthem for two mismatched stepbrothers navigating suburban chaos.
Unlike some Nickelodeon themes that faded once a series ended, this one kept circulating through Bell’s later music releases and live performances. For fans who grew up with the show, hearing those opening guitar chords still triggers instant recognition, a fairly rare feat for a network sitcom theme from the mid-2000s.
6. That’s So Raven – Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné lent her voice to her own show’s theme, a fitting move given how much the series revolved around her character’s psychic visions and comic timing. The theme song, often referred to simply as the “That’s So Raven Theme,” leaned into a funky, confident sound that matched the character’s personality. It became one of the more recognizable Disney Channel openings of the early 2000s.
The show ran for four seasons and helped launch Raven-Symoné into a broader career as both a singer and actress. Having her perform the theme herself reinforced the sense that Raven Baxter, the character, and Raven-Symoné, the performer, were practically inseparable in viewers’ minds.
7. Victorious – Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice took the lead on “Make It Shine,” the theme for her Nickelodeon series about students at a performing arts high school. The song fit the show’s premise neatly, since Victorious was built around musical numbers and stage performances anyway. Justice’s vocal on the theme doubled as an early preview of her music career outside the show.
The track later got a crossover moment when Miranda Cosgrove and the iCarly cast joined Justice on “Leave It All to Shine,” a mashup single blending both shows’ themes for a Nickelodeon crossover special. That single briefly charted and became a minor pop culture moment in its own right, showing how far these theme songs could travel beyond the shows that spawned them.
8. Good Luck Charlie – Bridgit Mendler
Bridgit Mendler sang the theme for Good Luck Charlie, a Disney Channel family sitcom that ran from 2010 to 2014. The song, often listed simply as the show’s opening theme, had a bright, upbeat pop sound that matched the series’ tone of home video diaries recorded for a younger sibling. Mendler’s performance gave the show a personal touch, since she played the family’s teenage daughter narrating much of the action.
The theme never became a major chart hit outside the show, but it did the job well within Disney Channel’s programming. It stayed consistent across all four seasons, a rarity for a network known for occasionally tweaking or replacing its show openings mid-run.
9. Jessie – Debby Ryan
Debby Ryan performed the theme song for Jessie, the Disney Channel sitcom about a small town nanny navigating life with a wealthy Manhattan family. The song matched the character’s energy, mixing pop hooks with lyrics about adjusting to a chaotic new life in the city. Ryan’s vocal performance gave the opening a personal stamp that tied directly to her character’s journey on the show.
Jessie ran for four seasons and later spawned the spinoff Bunk’d, though that series used a different theme without Ryan’s involvement. Still, the original Jessie opening remains one of the more fondly remembered Disney Channel themes from the early 2010s, largely because Ryan’s voice carried it.
10. Shake It Up – Bella Thorne and Zendaya
Shake It Up gave its two young stars a joint vocal credit on the show’s theme, fitting for a series built around a pair of best friends who become backup dancers on a local television show. Bella Thorne and Zendaya both appear on the recording, and the dance heavy theme mirrored the show’s core premise almost perfectly. It was an efficient bit of marketing, since the opening doubled as a preview of the choreography featured throughout each episode.
Zendaya’s involvement in the theme came early in what became a much larger career in music and film. Looking back, the Shake It Up theme stands out as one of the clearer examples of a Disney Channel show using its own cast’s talents to sell the series from the very first ten seconds.
These ten songs share a common thread beyond just who is singing. Each one gave a young or emerging performer their first real moment in a recording booth, often years before solo albums or film careers took shape. That overlap between acting and singing, however brief or informal it started out, is part of why so many of these openings still get watched, shared, and occasionally rediscovered by new audiences decades later.
