‘Glee’ Trailblazer Darren Criss Earns His Place on the Cover of Billboard Magazine

'Glee' star Darren Criss takes the coveted cover of the next issue of Billboard Magazine, and inside, he dishes on the upcoming Warblers album and his huge 'Glee' role -- including how much say he has in what covers the all-boys glee club tackles.

"I'm still the new guy, so I don't want to go around saying, 'We should do this. We should do that,' Criss tells Billboard. "But Ryan [Murphy] is always open to ideas, and I did at one point say, 'Hey, Neon Trees' 'Animal' is a really great song.' And about a week later it showed up in the script. So whether or not he did it because of me, or if that was an idea he'd already had, I don't know, but it was a suggestion that I made and it became a reality. It just goes to show how open and receptive he is to ideas."

Criss' character, Blaine, was written into 'Glee' last fall, and since then, the Dalton Academy Warblers have been spotlighted on nearly every episode. But the 24-year-old theater-kid-turned-television-superstar says it's time for him to lose some of the limelight. "I think it's time to focus back on the characters that fans of the show really know and love," he admits. "Completely objectively from watching the show, I was like, 'Why does Blaine get all these songs? This is ridiculous. I want to hear other people doing stuff.' I think we're focusing a little more back on New Directions and taking a little bit of a break from the Warblers."

It's not time for the Warblers to step aside quite yet, though. They're set to release their debut album, ''Glee': The Music presents The Warblers' this Tuesday, April 19. Criss shines undeniably bright on the soundtrack, which boasts the boys' covers of Destiny's Child, 'Bills, Bills, Bills,' Pink’s 'Raise Your Glass,' and Train’s 'Hey, Soul Sister' -- as well as their rendition of 'Teenage Dream' (Katy Perry), which became the fastest selling single in 'Glee' history.

Listen to the Warblers Cover Pink's 'Raise Your Glass

"About 90% of the Warblers album I recorded in New York, because it's easier to fly one guy from L.A. to the East Coast than the 14 Beelzebubs guys from the East Coast to the West Coast," Criss dishes. "Things are very rush, rush, rush in Los Angeles because of the shooting schedule. But I really lucked out when I went to New York because we could spend numbers of hours and get some food, have a beer and really organically grow something. It's a luxury that I do not take for granted, and I'm very careful to advertise that because I don't want to make the other 'Glee' cast members mad at me for having that kind of situation," he says.

Criss adds that his own musical career has been paused to drop the 'Glee' release. "I'm certainly grateful for it. I can't believe they've decided to make an album out of all this stuff. My mom is like, 'Oh, I can't wait for your album!' I'm like, 'Mom, it's not really my album. My album will come out eventually. I was about to have it out. You'll be able to listen to it soon.' Which is not to sound ungrateful," he says. "It's just not my music -- it's other people's songs, and it's not just about me -- it's about 'Glee' and a character who does these things with the Warblers. I look at it as a collective thing."

As Darren Criss the singer/songwriter, the young hopeful says that 'Glee' has taken his career leaps and bounds. "Everything is so much bigger than myself, it's hard to comprehend," he admits. "A year ago, I was so psyched that my first show in L.A. was at the Troubadour. I grew up dreaming of playing the Troubadour one day."

But now that he's set to tackle a 'Glee' tour with his castmates, Criss' sights are set beyond dive bars and loud clubs. "Talk about so much for baby steps. It's like, 'Wait -- Staples Center, are you kidding me?' I was happy to drive around in a beat-up, crappy old van with my bandmates and just go to small clubs around the country," he says. "When I look back on 'Glee' and on this album, it's like I was offered to live in a golden marshmallow house in the sky. It's like, 'Sure! I'll take it!' I never thought that it would ever happen, that I would get a magical marshmallow castle in the sky, but my God, thank you."

The Darren Criss cover issue of Billboard hits newsstands on April 18.

Watch the Warblers Take On Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream'