Huntley from Team Niall Horan wins The Voice season 24
As many fans predicted, The Voice named Huntley, a 33-year-old soulful rock artist from Fredericksburg, Va. as the Season 24 champion Tuesday night (Dec 19) (Read our Recap). Huntley wins a cash prize and a record deal with Republic Records.
Fresh off his win, Huntley will perform at this weekend’s Buffalo Bills vs. Los Angeles Chargers game, streaming exclusively on Peacock with coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. He will kick off the game with a rendition of the National Anthem and put on a special halftime performance.
Huntley faced tough competition from the other talented finalists this season, including teammate Mara Justine (3rd place) from Team Niall Horan, Lila Forde (5th place) from Team John Legend, and Ruby Leigh (2nd place) and Jacquie Roar (4th place) from Team Reba McEntire. All five Season 24 finalists earned a four-chair turn during their blind auditions.
“Ruby [Leigh] is so talented and I think that she is a force to reckon with”
“Honestly I was so surprised,” Huntley told ET’s Deidre Behar following his win. “Ruby [Leigh] is so talented and I think that she is a force to reckon with, so the fact that it was us two standing up there, it was right… She’s super talented and when my name got called, I genuinely couldn’t believe it.”
Ruby ended the competition as the runner-up.
Huntley has nothing but praise and admiration for his coach, Niall, who has garnered back to back wins. “Whenever I feel like I’m too busy or complaining about this process, I kind of just think back and I’m like, this dude’s literally flying around the world and still messaging me back on my emails,” he raved. “It’s pretty cool — I respect it very, very much,” he told ET.
Niall won The Voice 23 last spring with teen singer, Gina Miles.
Huntley plans to take a breather before getting back to the grind. “I think that my main concern is to take a step back and just breathe and just really take everything in,” he told ET. “This experience has taken half a year. I’ve spent six months away from my kids — my son is speaking in full sentences now. It’s insane.”
“But this has all been so worthwhile,” Huntley continued. “I just want my career. I’m so hungry for this… John [Legend] said he can see me singing in arenas around the world and that’s something I’m very hungry for. Y’all are not getting rid of me!”
A look back at Huntley’s impressive run on The Voice
In his blind audition, Huntley, known for his unique raspy voice, earned four chair turns from the coaches with his powerful performance of the Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels,” which had coaches fighting for him. He ultimately chose to join Team Niall, where he and teammate Brailey Lenderman performed a duet of Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Hold My Hand” during the battle rounds. For the ultra-competitive three-way knockout round, he did a showstopping performance of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.”
During the playoffs, Huntley performed an emotional rendition of David Kushner’s “Daylight” to honor his daughter, which secured him a spot in the Top 12. In the first live show, he performed “With a Little Help From My Friends” by the Beatles, which earned him a spot in the semifinals. The following week, Huntley joined Lila Ford and Mac Royals for a trio performance of “exile” by Taylor Swift featuring Bon Iver, and then wowed with the crowd-pleaser “Way Down We Go” by KALEO.
On Monday night’s telecast, Huntley continued to impress the coaches and viewers alike with an up-tempo live performance of “Higher” by Creed as well as a down-tempo performance of “Another Love” by Tom Odell.
Before the show crowned him the winner during Tuesday’s finale, Niall Horan joined Huntley on stage for a heartfelt duet of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan.
Huntley’s performances accumulated 46.6 million views across The Voice pages on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube
Huntley’s presence on the show’s social media platforms this season garnered immense popularity, with his performances accumulating 46.6 million views across “The Voice” pages on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.
Huntley was singing and impersonating Elvis by the time he was 4, and at 14 wanted to pursue music. After two years of college, he moved to Nashville but didn’t find the success he had imagined. After falling out of love with the music grind, he moved back home to Virginia. In 2016, Huntley welcomed his daughter and five years later welcomed his son. He never had a relationship with his own father, which motivated him to be very involved in his kids’ lives. Since 2022, Huntley has found success as a booking agent for musicians. Now that music is coming back into his life, he’s been a full-time musician gigging five times a week all over Virginia.
