Craig Wayne Boyd (born December 31, 1978) is an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

singer and songwriter. A native of

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, Texas, Boyd is based out of and resides in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

, Tennessee. He is best known for winning Season 7 of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's reality TV singing competition ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' as a part of

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

's team.

Early life

Boyd was born on December 31, 1978, and raised in the Dallas suburb of

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under gr ...

. He grew up influenced by gospel and country music. He played many instruments in his youth. He was also his church's choir director.

Career

Early years

Boyd moved to

at the age of 25 in 2004 to pursue a career in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. Boyd was signed to a publishing deal with EMI. He spent many years songwriting. Boyd began touring, opening for acts such as

Jamey Johnson Jamey Johnson (born July 14, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to BNA Records in 2005, Johnson made his debut with his single " The Dollar", the title track to his 2006 album '' The Dollar''. He was dropped fro ...

Randy Houser Shawn Randolph Houser (born December 18, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal South Records in 2008, he charted the single "Anything Goes". It was a top 20 hit on the ''Billboard'' country singles chart a ...

, and

Brantley Gilbert Brantley Keith Gilbert (born January 20, 1985) is an American country rock singer, songwriter and record producer from Jefferson, Georgia. He was originally signed to Colt Ford's label, Average Joes Entertainment, where he released '' Moder ...

''The Voice'' (2014)

On September 30, 2014, Boyd debuted on seventh season of ''

''. During his Blind Audition, Boyd sang " The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" by

Travis Tritt James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...

and

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as ...

. Two coaches (

and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...

) turned around. Boyd chose

as his coach. During the Battle Rounds, Boyd was paired with James David Carter to sing "

Wave on Wave ''Wave on Wave'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Pat Green. Released in 2003 on Universal Records, Universal/Republic Records in association with Mercury Records, it produced two singles for Green on the ''Billboard (m ...

" by

Pat Green Patrick Craven Green (born April 5, 1972) is an American Texas Country artist. Active since 1995, he has recorded a total of seven studio albums, including several independent works, three for Republic Records and two for BNA. Fifteen of his si ...

. Coach Shelton chose Carter over Boyd, but Boyd was stolen by Coach

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

. In the Knockout Rounds, Boyd was paired with

Anita Antoinette Anita Antoinette Fearon, born August 4, 1989, is a Jamaican-American reggae singer-songwriter. Antoinette is best known for her appearance on NBC's reality TV singing competition ''The Voice'' Season 3 in which she was eliminated from the Blind ...

. Boyd sang " Can't You See" by

The Marshall Tucker Band The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country, and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. ...

. 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 "You Look So Good in Love" is a song written by Glen Ballard, Rory Bourke and Kerry Chater, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in September 1983 as the lead single from his album '' Right or Wrong''. ...

" by

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

. Boyd was saved by the public's votes. For the week of the Top 10, Boyd performed "

I Walk the Line "I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. After three attempts with moderate chart ratings, it became Cash's first #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' charts, eventually reaching #17 on the US pop charts. The song remai ...

" by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

. 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 "Take It Easy" is the debut single by the American rock band Eagles, written by Jackson Browne and Eagles band member Glenn Frey, who also provides lead vocals. It was released on May 1, 1972, and peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 1 ...

" by the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

. 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 Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...

for Boyd to sing and Boyd also sang "

The Old Rugged Cross "The Old Rugged Cross" is a popular hymn written in 1912 by American evangelist and song-leader George Bennard (1873–1958). History George Bennard was a native of Youngstown, Ohio, but was reared in Iowa. After his conversion in a Salvation ...

" 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 '' In Pictures'' is the sixteenth studio album by American country music band Alabama (band), Alabama, released in 1995. It included the singles "She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl", "In Pictures", "It Works", "Say I" and "The Maker Said Take Her", wh ...

" by

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

as his solo song. He performed " Boots On" by

as a duet with his coach

. 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. Boyd was declared the winner on December 16, 2014, giving

's team its fourth win out of the seven Seasons. He beat out

Matt McAndrew Matthew Brendan McAndrew (born September 6, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his appearance in Season 7 of NBC's reality TV singing competition ''The Voice'', where he finished as the runner-up as part of team Adam. In Jan ...

Chris Jamison Christopher Franklin Jamison (born June 6, 1994), better known as Chris Jamison is an American singer-songwriter best known for his appearance in season 7 of NBC's reality TV singing competition ''The Voice'' on Adam Levine's team. Early life ...

, and Damien Lawson, all three of whom were from Team

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

. Shortly after winning the show and signing with

Universal Republic Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

and

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

, Boyd played at the Grand Ole Opry and went on a 65 city tour. 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. The song peaked at #35 on the Billboard Digital charts. Craig Wayne Boyd signed a new record deal with Copperline Music Group in 2017. The singer is collaborating with Reviver Entertainment Group for radio promotion and BDG/RED for distribution. Top Shelf was released on October 27 via the Copperline Music Group. : – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Singles

Releases from ''The Voice''

Albums

Singles

Music videos

Notes

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Craig Wayne 1970s births Living people American male singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters People from Mesquite, Texas The Voice (franchise) winners Singer-songwriters from Texas 21st-century American singers Country musicians from Texas 21st-century American male singers