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The Sensational Cassadee Pope Returns to The Voice for an Emotional Goodbye
The Season 3 winner was the vocalist for the pop-punk band Hey Monday before finding mainstream success as a country singer.
Coach Blake Shelton’s final chapter on The Voice wouldn’t have been as epic without the return of Cassadee Pope, one of the series’ most successful contestants.
Team Blake contestants of seasons past united for the Season 23 Live Shows, sending the alum Coach off into the sunset (ahem … The Voice retirement) for a final farewell. Past winners, including fellow Oklahomans The Swon Brothers, Dia Frampton, Cam Anthony, and Shelton’s fellow Coaches Kelly Clarkson, Chance the Rapper, and Niall Horan, were all in attendance.
Pope won Season 3 as The Voice’s first female champion and would go on to be hailed as one of the most successful singers of the show, having found mainstream success in years since.
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Earning a Grammy Award nomination would just be one of her many accolades.
But before stardom, Pope was rooted as the lead vocalist for the pop-punk band Hey Monday, which formed in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2008. Following the release of their debut emo single “Hold on Tight,” the band signed with two labels: Columbia and Decaydance, the latter now called DCD2 Records, created by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.
On the All Punked Up podcast, Pope recently said she decided to audition for The Voice out of sheer desperation following the Hey Monday band members parting ways. At the time, Pope was new to Los Angeles and struggling to make ends meet, with an ex-partner even helping to pay her rent.
That was when talent scouts from The Voice spotted Pope in 2012.
For her Blind Auditions, Pope sang Natalie Imbruglia’s 1997 hit “Torn” for Coach Shelton and former Coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, and CeeLo Green. To very little surprise, all four singers turned their chairs to face Pope, though she chose to stick with Shelton when left to choose a team.
Pope went on to beat Ryan Jirovec in The Battles and Susanna Choffel in The Knockouts before heading into the Live Rounds.
Though she started on The Voice with her signature rock-ish vibe that mirrored the likes of Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch, Pope soon shifted into the country genre – under the guidance of Coach Shelton – because she otherwise felt she wasn’t standing out, she said on the podcast.
She began “dabbling” in country, resulting in her live performance of Miranda Lambert’s “Over You,” a country ballad co-written by Shelton about the premature death of his brother, who was 24 when he died in a car accident.
Pope sang “Over You” during the Live Rounds — which reached number one on iTunes (a first of its kind on The Voice) — and again during the Season Finale before Pope was crowned the winner.
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In 2013, following her success on The Voice, Pope stayed on the country scene and released the song “Wasting All These Tears” from her debut album Frame by Frame. The single was certified platinum in 2014, while the album peaked at number one on Billboard’s Top Country Albums.
She later released the 2016 country hit “Think of You,” which she sang with Chris Young, earning them a Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance in 2017. The Voice winner also made several notable appearances, including live performances of “The Star-Bangled Banner” at NASCAR races and NFL games.
Pope released her latest song, “People That I Love Leave,” on April 14, a departure from her well-established country sound and a return to her punky roots. It follows previous announcements that she planned to return to the genre that helped put her on the map, beginning with a collab with Levi Hummon, according to People.
Per an official press release previously cited by NBC Insider, the pop and rock genre is “such a staple” to Pope’s creativity, and the new song feels “like coming back home.”
“I wanted to lead with a high-energy, up-tempo song. I love jumping around on stage and always have since Hey Monday,” said Pope. “This song gives people a pretty clear picture of where I’m headed sonically and energetically.”
You can see part of the song’s music video on Pope’s Instagram.
We can’t wait to hear more from Cassadee Pope as her triumphant return to the rock genre continues.
Catch up on previous episodes of The Voice on NBC and Peacock.
