When The Voice premiered in 2011, the goal was to find talented singers and help propel their careers to the next level. The show has gotten it right several times, with artists like RaeLynn, Cassadee Pope, Jake Hoot, and more using their platform from The Voice to launch their own careers.
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But The Voice hasn’t always gotten it right. These four artists were all rejected from The Voice, and went on to have wonderful careers.
Luke Combs
It’s shocking that Luke Combs didn’t make it on The Voice, but it’s also true. Combs was rejected from The Voice, not because of his lack of talent, but because of his personality.
“I got a letter back after the next audition, which I made it through,” Combs reveals on the Full Send podcast. and they told me essentially I was too boring to be on television.”
Combs didn’t make it onto the show, but he does have his rejection letter in storage.
Combs was still in college when he auditioned for The Voice. Blake Shelton was one of the coaches at the time, and is mortified that Combs was turned away.
“There’s no way around it, it’s embarrassing,” Combs says (via The Bull). “Let’s just face it.”
Combs has had a total of 19 No. 1 singles, including his latest “Back In The Saddle”.
Lainey Wilson
Lainey Wilson auditioned not once, not twice, but seven times on The Voice, and was rejected every single time. Most people by then would have given up. Fortunately, it only made Wilson vow to work even harder.
“I didn’t even make to the part where they turn the chairs around,” Wilson tells Entertainment Tonight. “It just lit a fire under me, and I said, ‘You gotta keep on going.’”
Wilson ultimately had a full-circle moment when she performed on The Voice and was later invited by Reba McEntire to join the Grand Ole Opry.
Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen actually made it into The Playoffs on Season 6 of The Voice in 2014, before he was eliminated. Two years later, Wallen released his first single, “The Way I Talk”, kicking off a record-breaking career in country music.
Wallen now admits he wasn’t ready when he was on The Voice, which is likely why he didn’t make it very far.
“It was a big first step,” Wallen tells People. “I guess that’s the first time in my life where I realized that maybe I actually have a shot at this. I’m thankful that I didn’t win because it gave me a chance to take a couple of years after that show and really figure out who I was as an artist, and get the right team around me. When I got there, I had no clue what I was doing.”
Maren Morris
Before Maren Morris was a country-turned-pop singer, she was trying to get her career started, just like everybody else. Morris tried out for several shows, including both The Voice and American Idol, never making it onto any of the shows.
“They all said no, and I was devastated, obviously,” Morris says (via Entertainment Now). But now that she has a successful career, Morris is grateful she didn’t make it.
“I’m so glad I took the long way, because people audition with my songs on those shows,” she says.
Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage
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