Fans of “The Voice” will see two new faces on this season’s judging panel. Superstar country duo Dan + Shay will sit alongside John Legend, Chance the Rapper, and Reba tonight (Feb. 26.) The pair will make decisions just as they perform — in tandem (no word if they’ll share the same big red chair, though.)
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Comprised of Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney, the twosome are known for engaging with their fans through social media. But “The Voice” fans may still have some burning questions: Are they brothers? Will they beat Reba McEntire, unlike Blake Shelton? Here are five quick facts about Dan + Shay, “The Voice’s” first ever coaching duo.
No, Dan + Shay Are Not Related
Fans see the chemistry between Dan + Shay and immediately assume the two are brothers. They are not — nor do they share any DNA.
In fact, Dan + Shay only connected by pure happenstance. The “Tequila” artists met in December 2012 at a party at Smyers’ Nashville home.
“It was a terrible house, of course,” Mooney laughed to Taste of Country in November 2013. “[A] typical Nashville starting-artist house.”
Shay Is Really James Mooney
Shay, 32 was born James Shay Mooney and raised in Natural Dam, Arkansas. The “10,000 Hours” singer uses his middle name, Shay, onstage.
Fame Almost Spelled the End of Dan + Shay
The GRAMMY-winning duo may appear all smiles in “The Voice” promos. However, the pair admitted in a September 2023 interview that they very nearly called it quits at one time.
Dan + Shay didn’t speak to each other for four months after wrapping up their headlining The (Arena) Tour in December 2021.
“Came off the road and I was like, ‘Man, I f**king hate music,'” Smyers, 36 said on Bobbycast. “‘I’m ready to quit.'”
Fortunately, the pair had a conversation in March 2022 that “changed everything,” Mooney said.
“If we’re going to keep going forever, let’s get ourselves right, man,” the younger member of Dan + Shay said.
Dan Is Emo Turned Country
Before he was cleaning up at country music award shows, Smyers dabbled in the early-aughts emo scene.
Smyers fronted the emo band Transition, which made appearances at the Vans Warped Tour in 2004 and 2006.
“When I decided to move to Nashville… I thought I would be able to put all of my influences in a pot and kind of stir them up and create a unique sound,” Smyers told Pittsburgh magazine in February 2015.
Dan Met His Wife at an Animal Rescue Center
Smyers married wife Abby Law in May 2017 after meeting at an animal rescue center four years earlier. The couple’s rescue dogs were “the most important bridesmaid and groomsmen” at their Nashville wedding, Smyers joked.
Featured image by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
