People

July 18, 2007

Hayden Panettiere to Sing with Greg Grunberg's Band

By Mark Dagostino

Heroes cheerleader Hayden Panettiere – who is also a budding singer – will make a guest appearance with fellow cast member Greg Grunberg's all-star Band From TV this weekend, she confirms to PEOPLE.

"I sang with them at the wrap party for our show," Panettiere, 17, told PEOPLE Tuesday at a party in L.A. celebrating NBC's fall season. "I saw them and said, 'Anytime you guys want me to perform with you I'm totally up for it.' "

Panettiere, who has an album on the way and recently made headlines with her rendition of the National Anthem at the July 4 fireworks ceremony in Washington, D.C., will take the stage with Grunberg and his fellow actor/musicians on Saturday in Orange County, Calif. at Cal State Fullerton, after the Orange County Flyers baseball game.

The celeb-heavy Band From TV is a rock 'n' roll cover band featuring Grunberg on drums, Desperate Housewives' James Denton on guitar, House's Hugh Laurie on piano and both Bachelor star Bob Guiney and Kitchen Confidential actress Bonnie Somerville on vocals. (All the proceeds from the band's concerts and upcoming CD and DVD projects go to charity.)

Panettiere says she'll jump at any chance to practice singing onstage. "I have terrible stage fright and [with an album coming out] I'll need to go on tour at some point – so I need to practice."

How serious is Panettiere's stage fright? "The Fourth of July performance in Washington, D.C., was so nerve-wracking that I'm surprised I even made it on stage," she tells PEOPLE.

But Grunberg later laughed off Panettiere's claims. "Give me a break," he said. "She just played in front of like 500,000 people!"

This weekend's audience is expected to be closer to 5,000, according to Grunberg.

"That's like the biggest audience we've played. It's really exciting," he says. "We're going to do a whole set, and then [Hayden] is going to do two amazing songs."

So what exactly will Panettiere sing? "I'm singing Meredith Brooks's 'Bitch,' and then I'm singing Alanis Morissette's 'Ironic,'? she says. "It'll be fun!?

(Tickets to the event are $20 and are still available at orangecountyflyers.com.)

• With reporting by JED DREBEN