Kristen Marie Merlin (born December 13, 1984) is an

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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, while the ...

singer. She is best known for finishing in the top 5 on

Season 6 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 po ...

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 signing 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 ...

'' in 2014 as a part of

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

's team.

Career

2014: ''The Voice''

At the blind auditions on February 24, 2014, Merlin performed

Sugarland Sugarland is an American country music duo founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The duo consists of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin). They were founded in 2002, at which point Kristen Hall (vo ...

’s " Something More," persuading

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 ...

and Shakira to turn their chairs. Merlin chose Shakira and remained on her team the entire season. During the season's first live episode, Merlin's microphone went dead while she was singing Sugarland's "

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...

." Merlin continued to sing until she was brought another microphone about 20 seconds later, allowing the audience to hear the final note of the song. She received overwhelming enthusiasm from the audience and the coaches. Adam Levine praised Merlin for her performance, saying, "You handled it so gracefully. It was as if nothing happened. Well done. I would have been in a puddle of my own nerves. I would have been crying. I would have had a thumb in my mouth. That was real inspiring to see you be cool – ice water in your veins." During the semi-finals, Merlin performed

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

's "

Gunpowder & Lead "Gunpowder & Lead" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Miranda Lambert. It was released in January 2008 as the third single from her album ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend''. The album's third single, it became Lambert's first ...

," and Jewel's "

Foolish Games "Foolish Games" is a song by American singer-songwriter Jewel from her debut studio album, ''Pieces of You'' (1995). It was also the third single to be lifted from the '' Batman & Robin'' motion-picture soundtrack. Jewel re-recorded the single f ...

." The latter made the top 10 on the iTunes top 100 singles chart. Merlin and Kat Perkins were eliminated, while Josh Kaufman, Jake Worthington and

Christina Grimmie Christina Victoria Grimmie (March 12, 1994 – June 10, 2016) was an American singer and YouTuber. In 2009, she began posting covers of popular songs onto YouTube. After releasing her debut EP, '' Find Me'' (2011), her YouTube channel reached ...

progressed to the finals. Merlin toured 31 U.S. cities on "The Voice Tour" in 2014. Other performers included Season 6's Kaufman, Worthington, Grimmie and Jake Barker,

Season 5 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 po ...

Tessanne Chin Tessanne Amanda Chin (; born September 20, 1985) is a Jamaican recording artist, best known for winning The Voice (American season 5), Season 5 of NBC's reality TV singing competition ''The Voice (American TV series), The Voice'' as part of Adam ...

Jacquie Lee Jacqueline Ann "Jacquie" Lee (born June 25, 1997) is an American pop singer from Colts Neck, New Jersey. She is best known for being the runner-up of Season 5 of NBC's singing competition ''The Voice'' in 2013 as part of Christina Aguilera's te ...

and

Will Champlin William Christopher Champlin (born April 24, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his appearance on Season 5 of the NBC singing competition ''The Voice'' as part of Adam Levine's team. He finished in third place behind Jacqui ...

Season 4 Season 4 may refer to: * "Season 4" (''30 Rock'' episode), an episode of ''30 Rock'' See also * * Season One (disambiguation) Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughte ...

's Holly Tucker and

Season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguat ...

Dia Frampton Dia Frampton (born October 2, 1987) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Frampton is the lead singer of the band Meg & Dia, was the runner-up in the inaugural season of ''The Voice,'' and is perhaps most known for her presence and col ...

2015–present: ''Boomerang'' and ''Humans Being''

On January 20, 2015, Merlin independently released her first EP, ''Boomerang'', which reached #2 on Billboard's Heatseekers Northeast chart. ''Boomerang'' was produced by Corey Britz, engineered by Paul Fig, and recorded at Southland Records in Los Angeles. The five-track EP features four songs written by Merlin, "A Little While," "Confusion," "For Now," and "Pocket Love Song." The title track, "Boomerang," was co-written by Corey and Kara Britz. On February 8, 2019, Merlin released her second independently released EP, ''Humans Being,'' which reached No. 4 on Billboard's Heatseekers Northeast chart. The first single from the EP, "Don’t Call It a Comeback" (written by Alex Kline, Kellys Collins and Hannah Blaylock) was released on October 26, 2018. The five-track EP includes three songs co-written by Merlin, "Disengage" (written with Rob Pagnano and Lauren Weintraub), "Anyway" (written with Chris Parker), and "Humans Being" (written with Brian Dean Maher and Skip Black), as well as "Living Proof" (written by Matthew McVaney, Emily Weisband and Jennifer Schott).

Discography

Extended plays

Releases from ''The Voice''

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlin, Kristen 1984 births American women country singers American country singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters Country musicians from Massachusetts American lesbian musicians LGBT people from Massachusetts Living people People from Hanson, Massachusetts The Voice (franchise) contestants 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts