Michele is known for playing Rachel Berry on the Fox television series Glee (2009–2015), for which she received a Satellite Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and three consecutive People's Choice Awards. From 2015 to 2016, she starred as Hester Ulrich on the Fox television series Scream Queens.

Michele made her feature film debut in New Year's Eve (2011), and was signed to Columbia Records in 2012. She released her debut single the following year, "Cannonball", followed by her debut studio album, Louder (2014), which debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. Three years later, she released her second studio album, Places (2017). Michele has also published two books, Brunette Ambition (2014) and You First: Journal Your Way To Your Best Life (2015).