Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Blind audition: Billy Gilman, 28, of Westerly, Rhode Island, auditioned with “When We Were Young” by Adele and turned in an impressive vocal. Adam Levine turned early in the performance; Miley Cyrus midway through. Before the song ends with a really nice glory note, Alicia Keys and Blake Shelton turn as well. Adam said Billy made “everything happen on this stage” and thinks he can win the show. Both Blake and Miley were familiar with the former country music child star. In fact, Billy once opened for Miley’s dad, Billy Ray, when he was on tour. Billy decided to join Team Adam.

His background: Billy grew up around country music and started singing at a young age, taking vocal lessons at age 7, then singing at fairs and festivals. He wound up signing a record deal with Sony when he was 10 and recording a single called “One Voice” that hit the Top 20 on the Billboard country singles chart and an album that hit number one on the country album chart. “The response was overwhelming,” Billy told The Voice. “Looking back, at 11 years old, I don’t think a kid can really grasp that. But it was an amazing experience.” But when his voice changed, he was released and headed back home to Rhode Island. Now, he’s come out as gay and is trying to revive his music career. “I love my country music roots, but deep down, I always wanted to be a pop singer,” he says.

What the show didn’t show:
* His debut album, “One Voice,” sold more than 2 million copies and, according to his Facebook bio, earned him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest singer to ever reach the top of the Billboard country albums chart.
* A followup single called “Oklahoma” also cracked the Top 40 on the country singles chart, and Billy wound up releasing three more albums for Epic Nashville between 2000 and 2003 — “Dare to Dream,” “Music Through Heartstrings” and “Classic Christmas.” All three reached at least number 15 on the country albums chart.
* After a couple of independently released albums failed to match his prior success, Billy returned to the country music spotlight as a young man in 2012, recording a song called ‘The Choice” to benefit the Soles4Souls charity, which provides shoes to underprivileged children around the world. Eighteen country music stars, including Keith Urban, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire and Kellie Pickler, recorded guest vocals for the track.
* In 2015, Billy independently released a trio of pop singles — “Say You Will,” “Wishing You Were Here” and “Falling” as well as a music video for “Say You Will” that you can check out below.
* Just prior to those releases, Billy posted a heartfelt video to fans on YouTube in which he ended years of speculation by coming out as gay.
* As a child star, Billy said he was always told what to sing and how to sing it. And while he says he feels indebted to country music and will always have it “in my roots,” he feels his voice is now better suited for pop music. “I mean, from the age of like 13 and 14, I would do my duties with what I had to do as a youngster. And I’d go in the hotel room or whatever and I would belt out a Celine Dion song,” he said in a conference call with the media.
* Despite his past success, he admitted to being a “nervous wreck” before the audition in fear that no chairs would turn. And he doesn’t feel his past success provides an unfair advantage on the show because “it’s a totally different situation now. I mean, it was 17 years ago that I had success.”
* After earning a four-chair turn, Billy said he decided to go with Adam because “he knew that we would have a struggle. For him to say, you know, this isn’t going to be an easy ride but that just means he’s going to fight all the more to convey to people that I deserve some kind of a second chance. I thought was the attack that I had to go with. Because if anyone didn’t believe I would ever have a second chance, it was me.”

Keeping up with Billy:
Website
Facebook
Twitter: @BillyGilman