Craig Wayne Boyd

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Craig Wayne Boyd is an American country singer-songwriter best known for winning Season 7 of NBC's reality TV singing competition The Voice as a part of Blake Shelton's team.

Early life

Boyd was born and raised in the Dallas, TX suburb of Mesquite, TX. He grew up influenced by gospel and country music. He played many instruments as a kid. He was also his church's choir director.

Career

Early years

Boyd moved to Nashville, TN at the age of 25 in 2004 to pursue a career in country music. Boyd was signed to a publishing deal with EMI. He spent many years songwriting. Boyd began touring, opening for acts such as Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, and Brantley Gilbert.

2014–present: The Voice

On September 30, 2014, Boyd debuted on seventh season of The Voice. During his Blind Audition, Boyd sang "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" by Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart. Two coaches (Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams) turned around. Boyd chose Blake Shelton as his coach. During the Battle Rounds, Boyd was paired with James David Carter to sing "Wave on Wave"" by Pat Green. Coach Shelton chose Carter over Boyd, but Boyd was saved by Coach Gwen Stefani. In the Knockout Rounds, Boyd was paired with Anita Antoinette. Boyd sang "Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band. Boyd lost the round, but was stolen back by Coach Shelton and advanced to the Live Playoffs. During the Live Playoffs, Boyd sang "Some Kind of Wonderful" and was saved by the Public's votes to advance to the Top 12. For the week of the Top 12, Boyd performed "You Look So Good in Love" by George Strait. Boyd was saved by the public's votes. For the week of the Top 10, Boyd performed "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash. Boyd was saved by the public vote with his performance in the Top 10 of the iTunes Chart. For the week of the Top Eight, Boyd performed "Take It Easy" by the Eagles. Boyd was saved by the public vote and advanced to the Top Five. For the week of the Semifinals, Coach Shelton picked "Workin' Man Blues" by Merle Haggard for Boyd to sing and Boyd also sang "The Old Rugged Cross" which was in the iTunes Top 10. Boyd advanced to the finals. For the week of the Finals, Boyd performed three songs. He performed "In Pictures" by Alabama as his solo song. He performed "Boots On" by Randy Houser as a duet with his coach Blake Shelton. He also performed an original song called "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face". The song was written for Shelton, but he decided to give it to Boyd. The song is Boyd's debut single.^[3]

Boyd was declared the winner on December 16, 2014, giving Blake Shelton's team its fourth win out of the seven Seasons.^[4]

Shortly after winning the show and signing with Universal Republic and Dot Records, Boyd played at the Grand Ole Opry and went on 65 city tour.^[5][6] His debut album is to be released sometime in 2015. In early May 2015, following 6 weeks of rumors, it was reported that Boyd parted ways with Dot. He tweeted that "it's called I ASK off of the label....". Boyd released one single under Dot records "My Baby’s Got A Smile On Her Face", which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs before falling off that chart with a 94% drop in sales the next week.. His second single "I'm Still Here" was released to iTunes under his own imprint - Long Haul Records.^[7]

     – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Singles

Releases from The Voice

Albums

Singles

Notes

References