Brett Young Almost Competed as a Contestant on ‘The Voice’

Young thought the reality competition show could launch his career in country music due to the media exposure and great ratings.

Written by Kelly Brickey
Brett Young Almost Competed as a Contestant on ‘The Voice’
Brett Young; Photo Credit: Adam Taylor

Before making it big with No. 1 singles and awards nominations aplenty, Brett Young almost took a chance at kickstarting his music career through the help of NBC’s The Voice.

Back when Young was still trying to make it onto the country scene by packing up and moving out to Nashville from California, he got an offer he thought he couldn’t refuse. Some producers from the reality competition show granted him the opportunity to be on the show without going through the lengthy pre-production audition process. But the singer knew the chance wasn’t meant to be after briefly chatting with a close industry friend.

“I got together with Enzo [Lee Brice’s manager] for drinks and told him what was going on, and he said, ‘I don’t think you should go.’ I said, ‘Hold on,’ and I walked outside and I called [the ‘Voice’ production] and let ‘em know I couldn’t make it. I came back in, and he kind of freaked out, because he felt he had made that decision for me, and what if it was the wrong decision? That was the scariest piece of advice I ever got,” Young remembered in an interview with Variety.

The leap of faith ultimately led him to his overnight success within the genre, but Young still recollects the consideration process for appearing on The Voice. Letting his personal cons outweigh the pros during the offer, the “Sleep Without You” singer still thinks he made the right choice in the end.

“It’s an interesting thing how that’s absolutely catapulted the career of all those judges. Blake was already killing it as an artist, but now he’s not just an artist, he’s a famous television personality, and the same with Adam. But as a contestant, you win the show, and then what happens after that? For the most part, that quick a rise makes everybody feel like the first song better be a smash, or else there’ll be that quick a demise. Yeah, there is that ‘what if’ thing, but obviously we’re all feeling very blessed and fortunate we chose what we did,” Young explained.

Although Young won’t be seeing those big red chairs anytime soon, fans can check out Young’s live set as an opening act on Thomas Rhett’s Life Changes Tour. Tickets and show information is available through Young’s website.