Photography by VictoriaGomez
During The Voice blind auditions in 2024, Oak Cliff’s own Danny Joseph belted “I Put a Spell On You” by “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins. He immediately got three chairs to turn, with the fourth coming about a minute into his performance.
If you’re unfamiliar with The Voice, four chair turns is the highest honor. This means each judge was impressed with the performance and wants the singer to join their team, in which they will coach them throughout the show and attempt to guide them to first place.
Joseph had his pick of which coach to choose, and he decided to team up with Reba McEntire.
Originally from London, Joseph moved to the States in 2015 to marry his wife after years of a long-distance relationship. Shortly after moving, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. He got surgery to remove his colon just months before going on The Voice.
“Last year, the disease flared up really bad, and literally, maybe a few days later, I got a message on Instagram from a casting agent from The Voice,” Joseph says. “I was like, ‘I don’t really think this is real.’ It turned out that it was real, and then my health got so bad to the point where they had to remove my colon.”
He had the surgery in February of 2024, followed by a difficult and slow recovery.
“I woke up from the surgery and was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to get on this show. How is this going to happen?’” Joseph says. “It was only a few months away, and my wife was heavily pregnant with our third child. I couldn’t get out of bed for two months.”
Slowly but surely, Joseph started doing shows again and was strong enough to audition for The Voice in June.
“I didn’t think I would be able to make it at all,” Joseph says. “I mean, I had lost an organ. That changes your whole system and muscles and everything. It was a rush to get better and get ready, but thankfully, since the surgery, everything has been OK.”
The blind audition was an out-of-body experience for Joseph. On The Voice, the blind auditions start with all four judges facing away from the performer, so they cannot see them — they can only hear their voice.
“I slept terribly the night before. You know, you’re nervous. It feels like it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Joseph says. “I just started playing and kind of closed my eyes, imagined that I was playing a show in Harward Arms in Dallas or The Rustic or something and just tried to pretend I was at my own show. I didn’t really feel like I was actually playing or singing. It was just coming out.”
His wife and three kids were there to support him at the blind audition, which Joseph says was a highlight of his entire experience on the show.
“It was definitely a great moment, great feeling, especially with the year I’d had leading up to it, with all the health struggles and all the issues and then the surgery,” Joseph says. “It was a great feeling to have some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.”
As far as his journey on The Voice goes, Joseph has nothing but positive remarks. He didn’t know what to expect, but he says the people around him made it a smooth experience.
“Everyone was so nice, like every single person I met was so friendly, so supportive, all the contestants, the producers, the coaches. It was a much better experience than I ever could have imagined,” Joseph says. “Everyone looked after each other so much. They did everything they could to look after you, to make sure that when you go on stage, you’re at your best.”
Photography by VictoriaGomez
As competitors advance through the show, they compete in battle rounds, knockouts, playoffs and live performance shows.
Joseph battled his way through each round and made it to the finals, taking fourth place overall.
Throughout his journey on the show, Joseph performed songs such as The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun,” Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” and Luke Combs’ “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.” These performances have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and social media.
After The Voice, Joseph’s life has changed for the better. The exposure gave him a larger following and more fans showing up to his regular shows in Dallas.
“It’s nice that after being a musician for 30 years, there’s a little bit of recognition for all the hard work,” Joseph says. “I’ve probably done over 500 shows in the last three, four years in the Dallas area. It’s nice to actually have some kind of fans that are now showing up and they want to support you. It was a great experience, and I’m very thankful.”
Joseph’s future goals include doing bigger shows and expanding to venues across the state outside of Dallas. He has been recording, producing and releasing a new song every couple of weeks and hopes to maintain the momentum.
His biggest fans will always be his wife and kids.
“My wife supports everything I do and encourages me to continue with this,” Joseph says. “She’s been amazing since day one, encouraging me to continue to do it, because she knows how much joy it brings me.”
