One year ago today (Dec. 19), Huntley’s jaw hit the floor on live television when he learned viewers had crowned him winner of The Voice season 24. The 34-year-old Virginian blues-rocker received quite the assist from young daughter Stella, who picked Niall Horan as her father’s coach following a four-chair Blind Audition performance of The Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels.” Recently, Huntley sat down with a Virginia media outlet to reflect on the year since his life-changing victory.
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Why Huntley Decided to Step Away From His Label
After winning The Voice, Huntley received a $100,000 cash prize and a record contract with Republic Records. Owned by Universal Music Group, Republic Records represents the likes of Ariana Grande, Drake, and Noah Kahan.
In July, Huntley announced he had signed with music executive Edward Crowe, who also manages rappers Yelawolf and Pretty Shy. Since that career shakeup, the father of two has released two singles: “Tell Me When It’s Over” and “Skyline Drive.”
“I just felt like it was right for me to release and produce the kind of music I wanted to if I stepped away from the label,” Huntley told Northern Virginia Magazine. “Coming into that the first two months was my decision, and I feel like it jump-started me being able to release two songs before the end of the year. A lot of The Voice winners release covers, or they’re bound by contract what they can or can’t release. I feel like the reason I won the show was because I stayed genuine.”
So What’s Next?
While he can only share limited information, Huntley promises that in 2025, fans will see “some things that no Voice winner or contestants have ever done before.”
Does that mean an album, though? Not necessarily. “I’m old school, so if I’m going to release an album, I want it to be a real album where all the songs correlate with each other,” Huntley said. “Right now, I just feel like I’m giving a lot of different pieces of Huntley, and it just gives me free roam to set apart a little bit and show different parts of myself rather than putting myself into one box.”
Featured image by Trae Patton/NBC
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