Lea Michele Performs “Cannonball,” Talks Cory Monteith On ‘Ellen’: Watch

Lea Michele stopped by Ellen today to perform her new single “Cannonball,” and unsurprisingly — given her musical theater roots and heavy schedule of practice on Glee — she sounded tremendous singing the song live, powerful and emotional and well-matched for the track, neither dwarfing it nor letting it drown her. Basically, she was a pop star. (Her pronunciation is still a little funny and curiously Sia-esque — maybe that can get hammered out in successive productions — but her voice is just spectacular.)

After that, it was time for the requisite emotional Cory Monteith interview, which was (as expected) totally heartbreaking. 

In particular, she talked about the decision to return to work on the set of Glee while the grief was still so fresh: “What people also don’t understand is that going to work is no harder than being at home,” she said. “And being in the house, and opening up a closet and seeing a pair of shoes. Grief goes with you every day, whatever you’re doing. When there’s great moments, when there’s hard moments. So for me, I’d rather be at work with the people I love who are going through the same thing. Obviously, it has its own triggers, but at the end of the day, I feel so safe there.”

Just try to make it through this one without tearing up, at least a little.

Watch the performance up top, then see her interview below.

Get an eyeful of even more pop music coverage, from artist interviews to exclusive performances, on Idolator’s YouTube channel.