Jeffery Austin McClelland, Jr. (born April 15, 1991), better known by his stage name Jeffery Austin, is an American pop musician and was a contestant on the ninth season of

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 ...

, turning a single chair and defaulting to be a member of

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", "Spiderwebs ...

's team. He eventually finished in fourth place, behind Jordan Smith, Emily Ann Roberts, and

Barrett Baber Barrett Hankins Baber (born May 18, 1980) is an American country musician, where he plays alternative country and country rock music, and who was a contestant on NBC's ''The Voice'', where he auditioned and got a four chair turn during season n ...

. His

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''The Voice: The Complete Season 9 Collection'', placed on the ''Billboard'' magazine charts.

Early life

Austin was born Jeffery Austin McClelland, Jr., in St. Charles, Illinois, on April 15, 1991, to Jeffery Sr., and Michele Renee McClelland (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'', Brommel), where he was raised with a younger brother, Casey. His parents were married in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

on April 25, 1987, and they were married for 13 years before his father's death on July 18, 2000 in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana, when Austin was nine years old. He was a member of the Haines Middle School choir before going on to graduate from St. Charles North High School in 2009. When he was 16, Austin came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

to the support of his family. Austin would later graduate from

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...

with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 2013, majoring in public relations and advertising. He would then relocate to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he took a position in the field of public relations, before auditioning for ''The Voice'' and moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Music career

''The Voice''

Austin appeared on

season nine A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''The Voice'', in the fall of 2015. His audition turned the chair of Gwen Stefani, earning him a spot on her team. Austin eventually finished the competition in fourth place, behind Jordan Smith, Emily Ann Roberts, and

. His

, ''The Voice: The Complete Season 9 Collection'', placed on the ''Billboard'' magazine charts, where it peaked at No. 106 on The ''Billboard'' 200. : – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes

2016: New music

Discography

Albums

References

External links

Official website

Jeffery Austin ''The Voice'' artist profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Jeffery 1991 births Living people Republic Records artists Musicians from Chicago Songwriters from Illinois People from Chicago LGBT people from Illinois American gay musicians The Voice (franchise) contestants 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people