The Voice / YouTube Niall Horan
“The Voice” star Niall Horan is fresh off of his first victory as a coach on the show and is moving right into the release of this third studio album as a solo artist, “The Show”, which is set to drop on Friday, June 9.
In anticipation of the new record, Horan appeared on the cover of and sat down for an interview with Rolling Stone UK, where he opened up about his solo music, the inspiration behind his new album, and his meteoric rise to fame since becoming a member of the record-breaking boy band One Direction on “The X Factor” at the age of 16.
Horan had musical aspirations for most of his life, and told the outlet that his parents (Bobby Horan and Maura Gallagher, who divorced when he was only 5 years old), were “supportive up to a point” but encouraged him to have a backup plan and “get some sort of qualification” for financial stability, something he never ended up doing.
Niall Horan Became Famous Before Landing on a Backup Plan
Since Horan’s rise to fame came at such a young age, he told Rolling Stone UK that he never decided on a Plan B for his life, despite his parents urging.
“We didn’t get that far. Honestly, I just packed my bag and never came back – that’s the way they look at it,” Horan said, “My father worked in Tesco [a British retail chain] for 35 years and my mother worked at a pewter genesis company making little bits and pieces – clocks and things like that. They both had very regular jobs.”
Although Horan’s life followed a different path than his parents’, he understands their original wish for him to have a backup plan, whatever that might have been. “I don’t know what they would have wanted me to do, but I’m sure it would have been a good life,” he said, “Like, my parents are having a good time.”
Niall Horan Said He Did ‘The Voice’ Because of His ‘X Factor’ Experience
Horan appeared on the February 22 episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” with his fellow “Voice” coach Kelly Clarkson, where the two bonded over their shared experience of coaching on “The Voice” after first finding fame on a different singing competition show.
Clarkson asked Horan what it was like going through that process with a group, as she won the first season of “American Idol” as a solo act and Horan responded, “We were so lucky, because we would see all the other artists melting all the time over everything. We were just 16, 17, 18, 19, whatever we were. It was so fun. I would do it again. That’s why I’m doing ‘The Voice’.”
Horan also spoke about his transition from “X Factor” contestant to “The Voice” coach in a “Hot Ones” interview on March 16, where he described his fears over having to play a direct role in many singers’ eliminations. “That’s the part I’ve struggled with. Because I know what it’s like to be 16 and stood on a stage and looking at some famous dude that’s got your future in his hands,” he said.
Horan and each of his One Direction bandmates were originally eliminated as solo artists on “The X Factor” before being formed into a five-person group by the judges, making it all the way to the top 3 as a group before being eliminated.
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