Who is Durell Anthony? 'The Voice' star hoping to impress John Legend is Carrie Underwood's backup singer
Durell Anthony is a musician who has clearly already found his voice, but it's all set to be amplified on Season 20 of 'The Voice'. The soul singer, songwriter and musician will take on some tough competition in Season 20.
Durell Anthony was born and raised in Kansas and attended Benedictine College on a vocal scholarship. Before taking on music as a career, Durell pursued careers in counseling and education. Durell says, "I’ve always enjoyed working with kids, so my initial goal was to become a teacher. That seemed to be the responsible thing to do. But deep down, I really wanted to sing. I just wasn’t sure how to turn that into a career." A summer job in San Diego as a fitness counselor led him to relocate to California in 2010, where he joined 'Black Belt Jones' Band, which paved the way for his musical journey.
RELATED ARTICLES
One of Anthony's biggest musical idols is John Legend, so no prizes for guessing whose chair he's hoping will turn. Besides Legend, Anthony counts Stevie Wonder, Brian McKnight and Leon Bridges as his biggest musical influences. However, Durell says his sound is all his own. Durell certainly has more experience than perhaps the other contestants we've seen so far. As a backing vocalist, Durell has shared the stage with some of the music industry’s top names including Karl Denson (Rolling Stones), John Elefante (Kansas), Paul Wall, Bun B, Slim Thug, Yolonda Adams and Carrie Underwood.
Durell is the lead singer of a Top 40 corporate band in San Diego called 'The Mighty Untouchables'. He has also released some original music. His single 'Dreams' was released in 2018, followed by an EP in 2019.
Durell's latest single 'SPEECHLESS' is a song written for his daughter and dedicated to #girldads everywhere. 'SPEECHLESS' is available on all major streaming platforms. He’s currently working on a full-length album scheduled for release in 2021.
Will he leave the judges on 'The Voice' speechless with his performance? We'll know soon enough.
'The Voice' airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 PM ET/PT on NBC. You can check out Durell's talent in the video below.