Matthew Morrison Reveals Sexy Story Behind 'Summer Rain,' Says He's Seen Gwyneth's Nerves Firsthand

After years of cutting his teeth on Broadway with parts in 'Hairspray' and 'The Light in the Piazza,' for which he received a Tony nomination, Matthew Morrison shot to fame with his role as teacher Will Schuester on Fox's breakout TV series 'Glee.' Having conquered the stage and television, Morrison is now ready to take over the radio with his self-titled debut album, due out on May 10.

At his Sessions performance at AOL's Beverly Hills studio, Morrison was playful, pretending not to know who Elton John was, and joking about how "sexy" playing the ukulele is. Already in a good mood, he brightened even more when we broke the news that his first single, 'Summer Rain,' had just debuted on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, marking his first appearance as a solo artist on the charts.

In 'Summer Rain' you sing about having sex on the roof. Is it a true story?

Well, yes, it is a true story. I was living in New York in my early 20s and my girlfriend at the time and I were up on my apartment roof on 51st and 9th Ave. It was a beautiful summer day and it just all of a sudden started raining. We ran to go inside and we didn't quite make it inside. The moment just kind of took us and if my 16-year-old self knew I was going to have a moment like that in my life, he would be so stoked [laughs]. A lot of people are saying "Matt Morrison likes to have sex in public," or whatever but for me, it was a beautiful moment about being in love in New York City.

Watch Matthew Morrison perform 'Summer Rain.'

Has she heard the song?

Yeah, I made sure she liked it before I put it on the album.

What do you want people to learn about you from this album?

Going into this album I thought it was really important that I write a lot of the songs myself because I felt like if I just did a bunch of covers it would just be another 'Glee' album. When I first started I actually wanted to make a record about my time in New York in my 20s and I wanted to have a Michael Bublé/Justin Timberlake kind of feel, but something very different came out. It was very organic and very me, so I was really happy with the entire process.

There's a song on the album called 'My Name,' which is about people thinking they know you, but they don't.

It delved into what I'm going through in this moment being on such a successful show. That song is about being seen as Mr. Schuester but people not really knowing who I am. Television is such a fascinating thing in that you're in people's living rooms every single week so they feel like they know you or they know that character in a very intimate way. So that was one of the main reasons why I wrote that song: to say I'm not that guy.

What has been the hardest adjustment to fame for you?

Being a celebrity. It's something that I never wanted. I actually really try not to be one. I wanted to be respected as an actor and that's why right after high school I knew I had to be in New York City and so I moved there, and I trained really hard and I started in the ensemble of a Broadway show and I kind of worked my way up the Broadway ranks.

TV is great, [but] I think television is a writer's medium and I feel that film is a director's medium. The stage is the place where an actor can really take charge. You know you go on a great journey every single night and there's nothing like it. That brings me to why I wanted to do this album: [it] was because having been on 'Glee' for a few years now, I'm craving that live performance -- to be in front of an audience again.

What are you looking most forward to about the tour and what are you dreading?

[Laughs] I'll start with dread. The thought of actually singing all these songs is kind of scary to me. When I was on Broadway I wouldn't talk all day long, [I would] really try to be quiet. But I think it's one of those things where your voice is a muscle and you just have to work it out and it will just get stronger.

I am looking forward to seeing what my fan base is. I know there will definitely be some 'Glee' fans and I don't know if it's going to be a lot of screaming teenagers, I don't know if it's going to be their moms that like me a lot or college-educated older men [laughs]. I'm really interested to see who the show is going to attract.

Talk about recording 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' with Gwyneth Paltrow. I heard she was nervous.

She was! She's such a good singer and she gets nervous to sing, which is funny because she sang at everything this year -- the Grammys, the Oscars -- and she was such a nervous wreck every time she had to go out there, but she was amazing every single time. She didn't really know the song; obviously she knew 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,' but she didn't know that version so I taught it to her in the studio and she picked it up really fast because she's got a great ear.

How do you ask Sir Elton John to sing with you?

That one was tricky because I don't really know him that well; I didn't back then. I went to his Oscar party and then he invited me to this White Tie and Tiara Ball in London that he has every year, and then I found out he was a 'Glee' fan. My hands were sweating and I walked up to him and was like, "Hey, Elton how's it going?" He's a lovely guy, and I said, "I'm doing this album and I would really like to sing with you on it if you would do that for me," and he was like "yeah, absolutely!" I was like, "Oh, man that was just so easy." It was one of those things where, three days after we recorded it, it finally sunk in and I was like, "Oh my God, I just did a duet with Elton John." It was very surreal.