Chris Blue (born January 15, 1990) is an American soul and gospel singer. He is the winner of

season 12 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 polar ...

of the American talent competition '' The Voice'' at the age of 27. He was the last artist to sing during the blind auditions in his season and filled the last spot on Team Alicia.

Life and career

Early life and career beginnings

Blue was born on January 15, 1990, in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

to Ernest Blue Jr. and Janice Blue-Williams. He is the youngest of seven children. The family moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, when he was 10 years old. Blue started singing in church at age 3. Blue started preaching at Peace and Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee , and was ordained at the age of 15. He eventually became a

worship leader Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including many ...

in the Cokesbury United Methodist Church. Choosing a music career from very early on, he formed the Blue Brothers with his siblings and later they appeared on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''

Bobby Jones Gospel ''Bobby Jones Gospel'' (sometimes called ''The Bobby Jones Gospel Hour'') was a program on BET hosted by Dr. Bobby Jones. The series premiered on January 27, 1980, two days after the network's January 25 launch. ''Bobby Jones Gospel'' features p ...

'' show. He won the Voice-Off Knoxville competition in 2015. He toured locally as well as in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

. Blue also attended Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, TN, and was actively involved in the campus worship ministry as well as the campus gospel choir.

The Voice (2017)

Blue auditioned in 2017 to compete in

of '' The Voice''. In the blind auditions, broadcast on March 14, 2017, 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 ...

, he sang "

The Tracks of My Tears "The Tracks of My Tears" is a 1965 song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Record's Tamla subsidiary label . It was composed by Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin. This million-selling, multiple award- ...

" from

The Miracles The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...

and was the last competitor to perform in the Blind Auditions on episode 7 of the auditions.

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

was the only judge left with a place in her team and she chose Blue. Blue became part of Team Alicia by default. He won the title for the season against Blake Shelton's finalist Lauren Duski who finished as runner-up. ''The Voice'' performances : – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on

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 ...

Personal life

Blue met his English wife Stephanie Dunkley in 2014.

Discography

Albums

* 2017: ''The Complete Season 12 Collection (The Voice)'' * 2019: ''Fresh Start'' * 2019: ''One Light'' * 2024: ''Foundations: The Hymns of My Heart''

Singles

* 2017: " Money on You" * 2017: "Blue Blood Blues" * 2017: "Humanity" * 2019: "You Are My Heaven" Releases from ''The Voice'' * 2017: "

" * 2017: " Adorn" (with RJ Collins) * 2017: "

Superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

" * 2017: "

Love on the Brain "Love on the Brain" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was released on 27 September 2016 by Westbury Road and Roc Nation as the fourth single from her eighth studio album, '' Anti'' (2016). Written by Joseph Angel and producer Fred Ball, ...

" * 2017: "

Love and Happiness "Love and Happiness" is a song by Al Green from his album '' I'm Still in Love with You''. Green co-wrote the song with Teenie Hodges. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom on London Records in 1973 and in the United States on Hi Reco ...

" * 2017: " When a Man Loves a Woman" * 2017: " 24K Magic" * 2017: "

If I Ain't Got You "If I Ain't Got You" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album '' The Diary of Alicia Keys'' (2003). Inspired by the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah, the September 11 attacks, and other events in the ...

" (with Vanessa Ferguson) * 2017: " Take Me to the King" * 2017: "

Diamonds and Pearls ''Diamonds and Pearls'' is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the first with his backing band The New Power Generation. It was released on October 1, 1991, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. T ...

" (with

) * 2017: "

Rhythm Nation "Rhythm Nation" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, released as the second single from her fourth studio album, '' Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989). It was written and produced by Jackson, in collaboration with Jimmy Jam and ...

" * 2017: " Money on You"

References

External links

Official website

'Voice' Season 12 Champ Chris Blue on Alicia Keys, Battling Doubt: I Almost Didn't Audition
''Rolling Stone'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, Chris Living people People from Glendale, Arizona The Voice (franchise) winners 1990 births Musicians from Knoxville, Tennessee 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers