Kenzie Wheeler Has Already Had A Lot of Success Before Joining 'The Voice'
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Kelly Clarkson is liking her chances of being crowned the winning coach of The Voice season 20 all thanks to Kenzie Wheeler.
The mullet-wearing 23-year-old Team Kelly singer from Dover, Florida is one of the top 5 competing in Tuesday night's season finale. From day one, the vocalist was wanted by all four coaches. In the Blind Audition round, his take on Keith Whitley's "Don't Close Your Eyes" made Kelly immediately turn her chair and use her block.
Once getting him on her team, Kelly never let go of the artist. In the Battle round, Kelsea Ballerini (who briefly filled in while Kelly was out ill) chose Kenzie to advance over J.D. Casper when both sang Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin' in the Dark." Kenzie took one step closer to the title when he sang Luke Combs's "Beer Never Broke My Heart" during the Knockouts soon after and impressed America even more with his top 9 performance of George Jones's "He Stopped Loving Her Today."
His most recent performance of "He Stopped Loving Her Today" was especially moving for Kenzie's family, since the singer dedicated the song to his "MaMaw."
"You know, I’m proud, means a lot. He’s tried hard. He’s a very humble kid," Kenzie’s parents Patty and Marty told WFLA.com about their son's accomplishments on The Voice so far.
In fact, it was Kenzie's mom who filled out the application for The Voice in the first place, according to Parade.com.
"My mom has always been one of my biggest supporters and she’s always helped me through so much with music and through life," he gushed to the outlet this season. "I put this off for a while. I always wanted to give The Voice, a try, a shot, I guess this past year was the time. She helped me put it together, so I sent the video in and here we are."
Before making a name for himself on The Voice, Kenzie was working at a grocery store warehouse and performing karaoke at local restaurants. While Kenzie's NBC profile states that he didn't take singing "seriously" until high school, his talent was immediately evident to those around him. With the encouragement of his friends and family, Kenzie began entering himself into a few local contests and wound up coming out on top. In particular, TalentRecap.com reports that Kenzie won Tampa Teen Idol back in 2016 singing Chris Janson's "Buy Me a Boat." At one point, Kenzie even got to open for country artists Charlie Daniels and Craig Campbell.
In 2014, his first song, "Talk to You," came out. Then, four years later, Kenzie made a giant step forward in his music career when he released his first album entitled Dover, which is named after his hometown.
Should Kenzie end up winning season 20 of The Voice, the artist will have a shot at a recording contract with Universal Music Group and a chance to get his name out there even more.
"I want to win The Voice because of what it could do to my future, my music, and getting signed to a label, and going out and showing the world my voice. That’s really what it’s all about," he told Parade.com "It’s a great experience and I’ve loved every second of it."
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