He’s come a very long way since The Voice.
Many Morgan Wallen fans know that he first got a little notoriety from appearing on NBC’s TV singing competition show in 2014, and he made it the playoff round, but ultimately didn’t win. It ultimately led to him moving to Nashville to pursue a career in country music in 2015. Morgan is definitely the biggest star to ever emerge from the show, however, The Voice has consistently struggled to produce a winner who has had any lasting success in the music industry.
Of course, Luke Combs was famously rejected from the show, as he told Whiskey Riff in an early interview, so I’m not so sure they really know what they’re looking for…
Obviously, the rest is history and Morgan is now a country music superstar, though he comes from humble beginnings, first learning how to sing and play music in church in the hills of the Appalachian mountains. Morgan is originally from Sneedville, Tennessee, and during an of Deer Season 25 with Mark Drury in Iowa a while back, Morgan opened up about his childhood, saying he asked for a violin when he was 5 and he learned how to play it classically, though he knows it’s because he loved the fiddle being in the Appalachian mountains:
“When I was 5, I asked for a violin for Christmas. Which technically, I was probably wanting a fiddle because I was at church and being in the Appalachian mountains, we listened to bluegrass and stuff a lot.
So I learned how to play that, but I learned how to classically play violin, not fiddle. And then I quit after two or three years just because I didn’t think it was cool no more. All I was doing was playing baseball, so I didn’t think it was cool at all at the time. I played piano, starting learning piano when I was 7, so I learned how to classically play piano.
Then I did that for two or three years too, then I just got real heavy into baseball, and I started doing travel team, and all that kind of stuff and it took up all my time. But I would still mess around with the piano, not the violin so much. Just kind of play chords, play by ear, all that kind of stuff. Kept somewhat in touch with music that way, but I would’ve ever write songs, really.”
He started writing in his late teenaged years, but when baseball started taking up all his time, that became the priority. He would still play some for his mom and friends, but it wasn’t until an injury that ended his college baseball career happened that he really turned to music as an escape.
His mom, Lesli, saw his potential, and signed Morgan up for The Voice without him even knowing anything about t. They drove to the audition in St. Louis, and Morgan went pretty far, though he explains that the producers wanted him to sing pop music, and he obviously wanted to sing country and was even a fan of some southern rock music.
Eventually, they let him pick a song, and he picked a country song… but got voted off the next week:
“Sometimes I would write poems and just random stuff, but didn’t start writing, probably, until I was 18, 19, 20. Whenever I got hurt in baseball, I didn’t get to go to college and play, so I started writing songs, trying to get my feelings out, I guess.
And just playing for my mom. I started off playing for my mom, I’d go to a buddy’s house for a bonfire, people would be like, man, you’re actually good. I knew I could sing, I just really enjoyed it… but there’s a lot of people that can sing, you know? But my mom actually signed me up for ‘The Voice,’ the TV show, and I went on there.
I never even heard of it, and I was like, I guess I’ll go if you drive me to St. Louis, actually, is where I tried out. Made it on there, like Top 20, but I wanted to sing country music and they wanted me to sing pop music. So I was just like, I guess these people are the smart people, guess I’ll try it. I sang some pop songs on there, and they finally let me pick a song, I picked a country song, then they kicked me off.”
The irony of him now getting chirped for singing pop and hip-hop infused country music… the universe is funny like that. But Morgan calls getting voted off “the best thing that ever happened,” adding that he met connections that way and it prompted his move to Music City and ultimately led to him becoming the biggest thing in music right now.
He added that he came from humble beginnings, and never could’ve imagined what his life would turn into:
“That was the best thing that ever happened, though. I just met some people through that and ended up moving to Nashville in 2015. So I’ve been there since 2015, it’s been good to me. Seriously, I never thought when I was ay my parent’s house writing those first songs… never.”
He’s not the only country superstar to have history with the show, as Luke Combs auditioned during producer rounds but ultimately didn’t make it to auditions because they felt he was “too boring” for the show.
During a recent episode of this season of The Voice, Morgan’s name came up during Evan James’ audition, who performed Morgan’s hit “Wasted On You” for the judges. He is a 22-year-old from Michigan, and he had three judges turn around for him in Kelly Clarkson, Riley Green and Adam Levine.
James ultimately went with Levine, the only original judge left who has been on since it started in 2011. Morgan originally joined Team Usher, but he was stolen by Levine in the Battle Rounds. When Levine was asked about what it was like to hear a contestant singing a song by someone he once coached, he explained that he is “proud” of Morgan, and obviously, it’s all worked out for him and he is happy to see it:
“Morgan obviously worked it out. So I’m proud of him.”
Levine hopes all of the contestants can use Morgan as an example of the show can help put them on the right track for a music career, adding that it’s “pretty cool” to see all Morgan has accomplished:
“He had some humble beginnings at The Voice on my team. That’s all we want for these guys, is for them to go out there and have a shot and be successful. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
Morgan is obviously the most successful contestant to ever come out of the voice, so I think it was pretty bold for James to choose one of his songs to sing but it obviously paid off:
@alicianicole171 Crazy #fyp #morganwallen #thevoice #adamlevine #maroon5 ♬ original sound – Alicia Nicole Penn💜
You can watch Evan’s audition here:
If you’ve never seen some of hisMorgan auditioned when was just 20-years-old, and if you’ve never watched his audition, it’s a fun blast from the past:
