When Was Morgan Wallen on 'The Voice'? The Superstar Started off as a Talent Show Reject

Country superstar Morgan Wallen is one of music’s biggest — and most controversial — names. However, most people don’t realize that his career took some early hits before skyrocketing into success. In fact, the singer was a talent show reject early on, as he was booted from NBC’s The Voice back when no one knew his name.

While most aspiring singers never recover from unsuccessful attempts at reality TV fame, Morgan provided fans with a masterclass in how to fail upward. The singer was featured on The Voice, swiftly eliminated, but managed to use that experience as a catapult to stardom.

Morgan’s short stint on The Voice began in 2014’s Season 6. His rendition of “Collide” by Howie Day earned the singer interest from music icons Usher and Shakira, both of whom noted the “uniqueness” in Morgan’s voice.

Ironically, the two judges who didn’t turn around for the future country star were another country music icon, Blake Shelton, and Morgan’s future The Voice coach, Adam Levine. Ultimately, Morgan opted to join Team Usher, but his place in that group was short-lived.

Despite currently dominating the charts, Morgan couldn’t even dominate the Battle Rounds on The Voice. After beating Brothers Walker while singing “Hey Brother," Morgan took on Stevie Jo with a duet of “Story of My Life” and failed to impress.

Once Stevie was named the winner, Adam stepped in with a Steal to save Morgan from elimination and asked the aspiring star to join his team instead. One would think Stevie could use his history of outperforming THE Morgan Wallen to his career advantage ... One would be mistaken.

It wasn’t long before Morgan’s second chance on the show came to an end, as the singer was eliminated in the Playoffs round after an underwhelming performance of “Stay” by Black Stone Cherry. Keeping with the theme of irony, it was a country song that got the future country singer booted from the show.

Fans may have a hard time understanding how such a talented singer could get kicked off The Voice so early in the competition, but Morgan himself agrees with the judges’ decision. The singer has since revealed that he felt like “a fish out of water” on the reality show.

“They wanted me to sing pop music,” he explained, “They got me dressed like … I don’t even know … singing a pop song. [...] I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve never even been on a plane before the show. I’m so naive to all this stuff.” However, he admits that he’s grateful for the experience as it connected him with the right people to become the star he is today.

Appearing on The Voice allowed Morgan to connect with music producers who saw his potential on the show. He teamed up with Joey Moi, the man behind hit artists like Florida Georgia Line, and the band everyone loves to hate: Nickelback. Joey coached Morgan on creating his now-famous pop/country sound and insisted the singer take vocal lessons.

Once Morgan Wallen 2.0 was created, he began topping charts with hits like “Whiskey Glasses," “The Way I Talk," and a collaboration with the aforementioned Florida Georgia Line on the country music staple “Up Down." Morgan has churned out hit after hit since then and now holds records for his country music success.

Now that he’s one of music’s biggest comeback kids, the sting of being a reality show reject doesn’t burn Morgan quite as much. In fact, he’s since expressed gratitude that he didn’t make it very far on The Voice, as he isn’t beholden to the show’s restrictive contract.

As for the reality show’s embarrassment at letting such a huge artist slip through its grasp… Blake recognizes that a huge mistake was made. The long-time country music singer sheepishly admitted, “I had him right there, and he got away.” Better luck next time, Blake. Something tells us that Morgan is laughing all the way to the bank!