‘The Voice’ Winner Huntley Opens up About His Difficulties Singing the National Anthem, Losing His Brother-In-Law in Afghanistan

May 13, 2024 10:56 am

Last year, Huntley proved that he had what it took to win The Voice. Since winning the competition, he has been performing in front of crowds around the country. Most of his gigs have been in front of relatively small crowds. However, he has performed the national anthem several times in front of massive crowds.

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Huntley sang the national anthem for two NFL games during the last season. In a recent interview with American Songwriter, he revealed that he has one more anthem performance on his bucket list. He also explained why it’s the hardest song to sing.

Huntley on Singing the National Anthem

Speaking to Cindy Watts of American Songwriter, Huntley reflected on his previous national anthem performances. “I sang it for the Chargers game and the [Buccaneers] game. Unless they call me for the Super Bowl… I think I want to give the anthem a little rest for a while,” he said.

Then, he spoke about why the national anthem is such a difficult song to perform. “It’s the hardest song to sing. Not only the way you have to sing it but the importance of it,” he said. “To me, the song means so much. I lost my brother-in-law in Afghanistan in 2004. He instilled in me to always follow my dreams,” he explained. “The fact that people like him gave up their lives so that we could be here, so that I could follow a dream like this. I mean, it puts a lot of weight on the song. The red on that flag means a lot more than just a color,” he added.

Watts pointed out that since the song is so important, people judge performances of it more harshly. “Yeah. Ya know, I tend to not care what people think. I think that’s really gotten me ahead in life,” Huntley said. “I definitely don’t like to hurt people’s feelings or anything. But that song is so important to people, there’s gonna be people who are going to be really mad and really happy and like it and hate it. I just say, ‘To each their own,’” he added.

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