From Cassadee Pope to Danielle Bradbery, the singing competition show, The Voice, is responsible for producing many of today’s country music stars.
Through one-on-one battles and coaching with the show’s celebrity judges, we remember these names because they stole the stage with jaw-dropping notes and hard-hitting techniques. But aside from the big names we know that made it far in the competition, surprisingly, two well-known country music stars never made it past their first auditions.
Maren Morris Couldn’t Make the Chairs Spin
After not making it on Amerian Idol, America’s Got Talent, and The Voice, no one would blame Maren Morris for giving up her dreams of a career as a county music star. However, Morris knew she had something special, and she persevered through the rejection.
However, now with several big hits and ACM awards, Morris reigns as one of the top female country music artists on the radio. “My Church,” “I Could Use a Love Song” and the 2021 ACM Song of the Year, “The Bones” are some of Morris’ biggest hits. According to Wide Open Country, Morris claimed that she’s happy the talent competition shows didn’t take her. Now, as a country music icon, she proved all of the rejecting judges wrong about her potential.
Contestants of talent shows like The Voice now use Morris’ songs to audition—and the irony of it is not lost on her. In an interview with Andy Cohen on an episode of Watch What Happens Live After Show, the vocalist discusses her feelings towards those shows.
“Now people cover my songs for their auditions on those shows,” Morris told Cohen. “So it’s like, not only is it really nice to have my song on a national television show, I get to collect the check and have some sweet revenge.”
For certain, it seems like a slap in the face to the judges each time they hear a contestant perform Morris’ songs.
Luke Combs Fails on ‘The Voice’
Georgia-born country music star, Luke Combs, is a frequent voice on radio stations. With top hits like “She Got the Best of Me” and “When It Rains It Pours,” Luke Combs found success through rejection.
It might come as a surprise for fans that the star didn’t make it past preliminary auditions. This meant the show rejected Combs even before he had the chance to appear before the judges. According to Wide Open Country, even though he had a gifted voice, the show claimed Combs’ act was not “interesting” enough.
However, for the budding country music star, the letter served as motivation to make it on his own.
Even though Combs didn’t make it to the show, in an exclusive interview with Whiskey Riff, Combs shared, “…It gave me a lot of confidence because I was good enough voice-wise to make it through all those producer auditions.”
According to The Voice judge, Blake Shelton, in an interview with Country Countdown USA, Combs hung the rejection letter in his college dorm room as he fought his way into the country music industry.
“I don’t know if he still has that letter or not,” Shelton said. “But if he does, I think he should frame it and put it next to his first triple-platinum album that he has.”
