Did The Voice Destroy Any Chance Of Creating A Superstar After They Eliminated Morgan Wallen Before
It's easy to forget that country music singer Morgan Wallen actually got his start on The Voice. But although he was a contestant in season 6, he didn't actually win the reality competition show. In the years since, he has released albums, toured a lot, and even been romantically linked to Livvy Dunne.
There's a debate about whether competition shows actually lead to fame and fortune for the participants. While some singers do really well, others fade into the background. Would Morgan Wallen have been an even bigger star if he had won The Voice? Will the reality series ever have a winner who becomes a huge success?
What Happened To Morgan Wallen On The Voice?
Morgan Wallen has a $4 million net worth. Being kicked off The Voice didn't ruin his career. But viewers were still surprised at the way that his story played out.
In 2014, the singer auditioned for The Voice and sang Howie Day's song "Collide."
Wallen talked about The Voice in an interview with Outsider and said that he was always interested in singing country, not pop, tunes. But he felt that he should delve into pop because that's what seemed to be expected of him.
Wallen said, “I wanted to sing country music, but they wanted me to sing pop music. So I was just like, ‘I guess these people are really smart people, I guess I’ll try it.’ And I sang some pop songs, and then they finally let me pick a song, and I picked a country song and they kicked me off. It was the best thing to ever happen though. But I just met some people through that and ended up moving to Nashville in 2015. It’s been good to me.”
Wallen said more about singing a country tune in an interview with Country Countdown USA. He said that when "I made the top 20," he decided to sing a song by Florida Georgia Line. He said, "I sang their song and got kicked off. It shows you how things come full circle. Now I have a song with them.”
Of course, there's no way of knowing what would have happened if Morgan Wallen had sung a pop song instead. He might have still been told to leave. Or perhaps he would have won season 6 of The Voice. While it's common to watch The Voice contestants sing pop, there have been winners who like other genres. Sawyer Fredericks, for example, won season 8 of The Voice and they sing blues.
Have Any Winners From The Voice Become Successful?
It's definitely true that Morgan Wallen is the most famous singer to have appeared on The Voice. When comparing the winners, it's hard to find someone who has become as well-known.
An argument can be made that when The Voice judges told Wallen to go home, this meant that no winner would become a huge part of the music industry.
Some past winners of The Voice include season 2's Jermaine Paul, season 1's Javier Colon, season 10's Alisan Porter, and season 7's Craig Wayne Boyd. While they are all talented, they aren't household names.
Blake Shelton, who was a judge on The Voice from seasons 1 through 23, talked about the record deals that The Voice winners get. Fans of The Voice know that if someone wins, they are given $100,000 and a Universal record deal. But as Shelton told Entertainment Tonight, Universal doesn't always actually allow the winning singer to make an album.
Shelton said, “One of the most frustrating things for me, as a coach on this show year after year, is they win this record deal with Universal. and so many times the ball’s been dropped. And there hasn’t been a lot of follow-through with the record deal.”
Shelton said that this happened to Todd Tilghman, who won season 18 of The Voice. Shelton continued to Entertainment Tonight, “I don’t care, I’ve been vocal about that from the beginning,. Cause it’s a hard pill to swallow when somebody works as hard as Todd has, and they get this chance, and there’s just no follow-through with the record deal.”
When Sundance Head won The Voice in 2016, Blake Shelton talked about Universal. According to Entertainment Tonight, he said, "I want to personally issue a challenge to Universal Records. This is the guy that I think can break the mold and become a star out of this show. I hope, and I give my word that I'll put my work in -- and I know he will -- this guy deserves to be a star. There's no excuses anymore. We need to make the record and put the work behind it that he deserves to have this success that he deserves, and that has to start with Universal Records getting involved and getting behind him."
But even though The Voice arguably hasn't made any major stars, it seems that it did help Morgan Wallen's career. According to Music Mayhem Magazine, the singer was interviewed by Drury Outdoors and he said that he wasn't aware of The Voice. His mom thought that it would be a good idea for him to try out.
Wallen explained that although he began playing the violin when he was five years, he took a long break to focus on sports. While music was always something that appealed to him, it wasn't a 24/7 passion.
Wallen said, “All I was doing was playing baseball, so I didn’t think it was cool at all at the time…but I played piano, so I learned how to play piano when I was seven so I learned how to classically play piano.”
After he competed on The Voice in 2014, Wallen put out three albums: "If I Know Me" in 2018, "Dangerous: The Double Album" in 2021, and "One Thing At A Time" in 2023. It's true that some people who compete on reality shows like The Voice might have trouble getting signed to a label if they don't win. But that wasn't the case for Wallen.
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