‘The Voice’ Alum Is Leaving Country Music, Cites Being “Ostracized” for Speaking Out Against Morgan Wallen & Jason Aldean’s Wife

The Voice alum and country singer Cassadee Pope announced that she’s leaving the genre. Pope is returning to her roots, focusing on both pop-punk and rock.

Speaking with the Rolling Stone, Pope explained why she’s stepping away from the country music industry. She feels that she was unfairly shamed by both her peers and country music fans for taking stands on social issues. Pope previously became an outspoken critic of both Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean’s wife Brittany amid their various past controversies.

Pope said she earned death threats from people as a result.

“I realize every genre has problematic people in it,” Pope told the outlet. “I’m not saying there’s not a frontman in a band who hasn’t been accused of something in rock music. But I guess rock is in my bones more. You’re not completely ostracized and shamed for speaking out.”

She continued, “In that moment, I felt so proud. I had no feeling of regret. I just kept my head down and kept going. It’s only been the past few months that I’ve let my guard down in therapy and said, ‘Wait, I actually wasn’t OK.’ But I think that kind of comes with the territory of including activism in your life. You’re not going to please everyone.”

Cassadee Pope on Leaving Country

Pope also wants to return to her roots. Speaking with The Line of Best Fit, Pope said she grew up listening to rock via her dad. “I grew up hearing ‘More Than a Feeling’ over and over and over again,” she said. Pope developed an appreciation for modern bands like Yellowcard and Fall Out Boy.

It was only after winning The Voice that Pope decided to try her hand at country music. She signed with Republic Nashville and released Frame by Frame in 2013. However, the singer said she never quite felt at home within the genre.

She said, “My first tour was with Rascal Flatts and I remember running out on the stage about to start rocking out and jumping around and no one got up. Everyone was just sitting, drinking their drink and bopping their heads. I was like, this is different.”

With her last album, Pope tried to bridge the two genres, but she doesn’t feel that Thrive garnered the attention it deserved.

“Thrive was my attempt to do a pop-punk country record and carve out my own lane in country music and they weren’t ready for that. They weren’t ready for a woman to do that,” she said. “I had to learn the hard way because I had this hope for country music to embrace me in a way where I wouldn’t have to compromise my sound and when it didn’t happen it was like, I tried that, it didn’t work.”