One ‘Voice’ Contestant’s Journey from American Dream to ‘American Horror Story’

Melanie Martinez

Getty Melanie Martinez.

For years, critics have been complaining that “The Voice” has not produced the huge stars that its predecessor, “American Idol,” has. For example, The New York Post wrote in 2021, “As a star-making vehicle, ‘The Voice’ hasn’t performed up to expectations.”

Despite these criticisms, “The Voice” has launched the careers of some pretty big singing sensations, one of whom is Melanie Martinez.  The Recording Industry Association of America, (RIAA) reports that Martinez has seven certified platinum singles, a certified platinum album, 10 certified gold singles and a certified gold album.  Most recently, on July 15, 2022, her singles, “Training Wheels” and “Play Date” went platinum, meaning they sold more than one million copies.

One of her singles, “Carousel,” not only went platinum, but was also featured on FX’s  “American Horror Story: Freak Show,” and its soundtrack.

It has not always been smooth sailing, however, for the 27-year-old. As is true for most artists – and most people – she has been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the years.


Martinez On ‘The Voice’

When she was just 16, Martinez and her distinctive dual-colored hairstyle showed up on season three of “The Voice,” singing Britney Spears’ “Toxic” in the blind auditions. Her eye-catching look did not play a part in three of the four judges turning their chairs around, since none of them could see her. Martinez’ signature breathy voice is what had coaches Adam Levine, CeeLo Green and Blake Shelton fighting to have her on their team. The only coach that did not turn was Christina Aguilera.

Martinez chose team Adam and made it relatively far in the competition. According to Talent Recap, “Martinez succeeded through the Battle and Knockout Rounds, but was saved by her coach in the live playoff rounds…Unfortunately she was eliminated in the Top six of the competition. Her elimination also eliminated Levine out of the running, since she was his last artist standing.”


Life After ‘The Voice’

Martinez was down but not out. Talent Recap reports, “Martinez spent the majority of 2013 writing her debut project, Dollhouse. Her first single released on February 9, 2014, with the EP following on May 19. In between the release of her single and album, Martinez signed to Atlantic Records and announced a tour.”

In 2015, she released her popular album, “Cry Baby,” which debuted at number six on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart, and stayed on the chart for more than a hundred straight weeks.

Martinez told Billboard in 2017, “My whole mission in general, ever since I was fourteen, was to write music that would help people heal. Music is like therapy for me, so I wanted to do that for other people or be that for other people. I’m just grateful that it’s resonating with that many people.”


Fall from Grace

The dark-alt pop star’s career went off the rails, however, when she was accused of sexual assault by a close friend. As was reported in Newsweek in 2017, female singer, Timothy Heller, said that Martinez raped her.  The outlet reports, “According to Heller, Martinez pressured her into sexual contact on June 25, 2015. Heller said Martinez pried for information on her sexual preferences and suggested they play a flirtatious game with handcuffs. ‘I was laughing along at first,’ Heller said. ‘But Melanie was so serious.’”  Heller went on to describe in detail how Martinez “coerced” her into having sex.

24 hours after Heller went public with her accusations, Martinez tweeted, “[Heller] never said no to what we chose to do together,” reports Newsweek. Many fans backed Martinez, accusing Heller of lying, and vice versa.

Although the accusations hurt her career, Martinez has managed to bounce back. According to Talent Recap, “When Martinez returned to music with K-12, fans were on board for her new music. Many former fans have taken their stance on the matter, many were able to forgive and forget for this situation.”

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the singer/songwriter currently has a net worth of $8 million. Her second studio album, K-12, went gold in September, 2021 according to RIAA.

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