Watch the Four-Chair Turn Singer That Captivated 'The Voice' Coaches From His First Note
Huntley
At the end of The Voice tonight, the season 24 teams were filled, but before that happened, there was one more opportunity for a four-chair turn from Reba McEntire, John Legend, Gwen Stefani and Niall Horan, and it went to Huntley, 33, from Fredericksburg, Va.
The single father of two – daughter Stella and son Michael – impressed the coaches with his performance of The Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels.”
Reba started the wooing, saying, “Your voice is incredible. How long have you been singing?”
“Probably my whole life,” Huntley told her. “I used to practice like I was Elvis and tell my parents and I had no idea why.”
Reba continued, “I heard Chris Stapleton in there. I'm a huge fan of Chris and that's a huge compliment to you. Everything about your voice I absolutely loved. I'd love to be your coach.”
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Next Niall tried to entice Huntley to his team. “I was hearing, and I don't know if you ever heard of an English singer called Daniel Merriweather and there was another guy called James Morrison, I’m hearing this tone, like the Chris Stapleton thing. That's a tone that comes naturally. I bet you were singing like that when you were 15. You sing your own way, you sing very direct, and so much power and the control that you have, it's so beautiful to listen to. I would like you to go to the Battles with me because you made us feel. That a really important thing and I would absolutely love to have you on Team Niall.”
Next Gwen tried to establish a hair connection, saying, “If anything, you should pick me because I used to wear my hair like that. [Huntley had his hair in long braids.] Your voice is just so automatic. You know exactly at what point you're going to be raspy and it's pure and honest. You sound like you've been singing forever on stage performing. You're just very comfortable. I wondered what other kinds of songs that you would do on this show?”
“I really do anything from reggae to rock to pop to R&B,” Huntley answered. “I do a lot of it. Music is just something that really comes from my soul.”
Niall jumped in, saying, “You can tell it comes from in there.”
To which Huntley said, “I’ve waited a long time for this, so I appreciate that.”
John was next up trying to court Huntley to Team Legend. He said, “Your voice has so much polish. It sounds like you've been on big stages before. So, to look at you and you're being so humble and shocked by all of us turning for you is kind of amazing to me. Your voice sounds so ready. It's so ready for the world, ready for the radio, and truly one of the best voices we've heard. It's so impressive, dude.”
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Gwen interjected, “You remind me a little bit of Bradley [Nowell] from Sublime because of the way that you have that rasp. I'd be curious to see how you would do something like that.”
“I could see Radiohead and all that kind of stuff,” Niall added.
Then John wrapped things up saying, “We're all hoping we can be part of your journey, hoping we can coach you but you have to decide. Who do you pick?”
Huntley asked the coaches if he could bring his 6-year-old daughter Stella on stage, which they agreed to and Stella came up. After consulting with her dad, they picked Team Niall.
“With Huntley’s tone, he can do whatever he wants,” said Niall, happy to land a four-chair turn. “He has so much character to his voice. He’s a really exciting prospect for this competition.”
In his video package, Huntley explained that after his father disappeared when he was 8 years old, it was music that helped him find his place in life. Then, when he was 14, he started a metal band with a friend until he discovered the acoustic guitar.
“That's when I uprooted to Nashville,” he continued. “I was 19 years old not knowing what I was getting into. I tried for so long, but living paycheck to paycheck just wasn't cutting it for me and I went back to Virginia. I came back feeling defeated, but I had a daughter, and it changed my whole life.
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“As soon as my daughter was born, providing for my family was my No. 1 goal. I play three to five shows a week now, and during the day, I'm a booking agent. I have to make calls at venues, I have to do scheduling, I have to deal with cancellations. I didn't have that and that's what drove me to get in that field. It does give me a lot of gratification that I'm taking care of the artists, but I'm ready for the opportunity to show the world my music.”
Huntley said that sometimes he feels selfish pursuing his music career, but on the other hand he wants to do it for his kids.
“I think the scariest thing is just not getting chairs turned,” he admitted. “If that happened, to face my daughter afterwards… but I know she's proud that I'm here in general. I’ve just gotten a lot of no’s and it would be really good for once in my life to get a yes.”
Well, Bradley got four yeses and he will now be on Team Niall.
The Voice returns with the Battles on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Next, The Voice Reveals Coaches for Season 25 – And There’s an Exciting Twist!
