Amanda Ayala (born September 23, 1997) is an American singer from New York who made her first appearance on the national scene on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning show '' The Voice.'' Following her time on The Voice she continued her success serving as support for well known artists and through appearances on other television programs such as '' Who Will Rock You''. Amanda's first performance on ''The Voice'' was a rendition of " Mississippi Queen" by

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

. Three out of the four judges on the panel turned their chairs for Amanda:

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

and

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine ( ; born March 18, 1979) is an American musician who is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and sole continuous member of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, for ...

. Ayala chose to join Team Adam where she was mentored by

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was th ...

. Amanda also performed a rendition of Edge of Seventeen by

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...

. Both of Ayala's singles charted on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Rock Charts. Her performances garnered attention from stars like

Brad Paisley Brad Douglas Paisley (born October 28, 1972) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His first success came in 1997 as the writer of David Kersh's "Another You (David Kersh song), Another You". After this, he signed with ...

and Leslie West via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. Her audition video has over 1.2 million views and counting.

Early life

Ayala began singing at the age of 3 and joined her first rock band at the age of 12. The following year, she and her band performed at New York City's oldest rock club,

The Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...

. As Ayala's voice matured, she founded her own rock band and covered classic rock hits as well as performing a mix of originals throughout the

tri-state area Tri-state area is an informal term in the United States which can refer to any of multiple areas that lie across three states. When referring to populated areas, the term implies a shared economy or culture among the area's residents, typically c ...

before she entered the national scene on television and began opening for other artists.

Career

After The Voice (U.S. TV series), Ayala's band was a winner of Westchester County's Battle of the Bands and chosen to open for the Pleasantville Music Festival on the Capitol Theatre sponsored stage. The headlining acts included

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning artist

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...

, along with the alternative rock band

Guster Guster is an American alternative rock band formed in Somerville, Massachusetts. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University and formed the band in 1991. The mem ...

and rock group

The Smithereens The Smithereens are an American rock music, rock band from Carteret, New Jersey. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio lead vocals, (vocals and guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar and backing vocals, vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar and bac ...

Ayala has served as a supporting act for many artists across all genres. Her first experience as support was at The Chance with rock band Blackfoot, followed by a show with ''Voice'' finalist Joshua Davis at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut. In late 2016, Ayala was the opening act at the Annual Tuckahoe Music Festival which included freestyle acts like Sweet Sensation, Exposé and pop icon

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer who rose to fame after her first two albums ('' Tell It to My Heart'' and '' Can't Fight Fate'') were both certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of ...

. Later in the night Taylor Dayne asked Amanda to join her in singing the Billboard number-one hit, " Love Will Lead You Back". AmandaAyalaTaylor

Some of Ayala's other shows include her concert with ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...

'' star

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...

. This concert was covered on

TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...

due to Mr. Cassidy's outburst towards a fan in the audience. This one of Cassidy's final shows before his retirement. Ayala was selected to be an opening act for

Sebastian Bach Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and h ...

, the original voice of

Skid Row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...

, at The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, New York. The performance garnered some local media attention due to the sold-out attendance. She was also booked as a supporting act for Tony Harnell of

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

in the weeks that followed (Harnell was also the lead singer of Skid Row in 2015). She supported ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' winner Nick Fradiani at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Connecticut on May 26, 2017. Ayala performed with Leslie West at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill on June 24, 2017. The two performed a duet version of " Mississippi Queen". In August 2017, Amanda Ayala performed at the annual Spiedie Fest. She opened for rock group Blue Öyster Cult and

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Money ( Mahoney; March 21, 1949September 13, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Paradise", " Think I'm in Love", " Shakin' ...

. Thousands of people attended this concert in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

. The line up for the three-day event included country stars,

Kellie Pickler Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country music singer, actress and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of ''American Idol'' and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed to ...

and

Sara Evans Sara Lynn Evans (; born February 5, 1971) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is also credited as a record producer, actress, and author. She had five songs reach the number one spot on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboar ...

, along with

Dennis DeYoung Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was the band's most ...

Styx (band) Styx () is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

. Amanda opened for and performed with ''

'' winner

Taylor Hicks Taylor Reuben Hicks (born October 7, 1976) is an American singer who won the American Idol (season 5), fifth season of ''American Idol'' in May 2006. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Sout ...

at the Palace Danbury Theater. The show was met with great reviews after both singers performed an impromptu version of "

The House of the Rising Sun "The House of the Rising Sun" is an American traditional folk music, folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children t ...

". Ayala performed with rock singer Dee Snider from

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...

on November 4, 2017 at The Chance. Amanda is working on her debut pop release. She is working with a platinum-selling producer. Amanda has yet to reveal who she is working with but her social media indicates she is currently recording and in the studio. In early March 2019 Topgolf announced its second season of the original series '' Who Will Rock You?''. Amanda confirmed that she will be a contestant on season 2. Judges on the show include Dee Snider and Kerri Kassem. The show aired on March 28, 2019, and Amanda was selected to move on the final 12 of the competition. On Episode 4, The Amanda Ayala band performed a rendition of

Proud Mary "Proud Mary" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by vocalist and lead guitarist John Fogerty. It was released as a single in January1969 by Fantasy Records and on the band's second studio album, '' Bayou Coun ...

. The studio version was made available on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

following the performance. In July 2021, Amanda spoke with ''KeyLine Mag'' and announced the release of her newest single titled "Seventeen". The song peaked Number 1 on the New Music Weekly Indie Chart for two weeks in a row, making it Amanda's first #1 of her career.

Discography

Singles

Amanda is currently recording an EP and it is scheduled to be released in 2019.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Amanda Living people American women pop singers The Voice (franchise) contestants 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 1997 births