Boyd won season 7 of The Voice, starting on a new path to a profession in country music.
On Tuesday night, country signer Craig Wayne Boyd won season 7 of The Voice. The musician from Tennessee received a deluge of praise and standing ovations as the award was given to him.
In his previous performance, Boyd performed "The Old Rugged Cross," and received confidence from the four judges for not only his song choice, but his vocal ability. Judge Adam Levine told the artist that the song expressed a new side of himself that he had not shown throughout the contest.
Boyd was under the coaching of Voice judge Blake Shelton, a renowned country singer. Shelton expressed great support for Boyd throughout the show. Craig Boyd's final performance on the competition was the debut of the song, "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face." The song was originally written by Shelton, but was gifted to Boyd. Shelton gave great respect to Boyd for being able to perform the song, especially since the difficulty of the song kept him from recording it himself, and called Boyd the "rightful owner" of the song. The country artist ecstatically thanked Shelton and expressed a feeling of gratitude and honor for the gift.
Though Boyd is now on track to becoming a renowned country singer himself, he was not always with positive prospects. Boyd, though residing in Tennessee, was originally from Mesquite, Texas and performed regularly at local venues. His talent went unrecognized and unrewarded before his appearance on the show.
"I remember more than a year ago, a little more than a year ago, sitting in a pickup outside a club after I had played to basically no one, and talking with my drummer and saying, 'Listen, I may have to quit. Because it's not paying my bills, and we're losing my house,'" Boyd said in a press conference after the show.
With the encouragement of that same drummer, Boyd continued his music career and went on to win the nationally recognized vocal competition.
"Welcome to your future," said judge Pharrell to Boyd after he performed "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face."
