John Legend was the first to turn—after hearing just a few notes—and he was smart enough to block Kelly Clarkson, ensuring that Holiday landed on his team. Now the fifth-place finalist is releasing his debut crossover pop single “Alive in Me,” which is a song about love surviving through all challenges. “This particular song really spoke to me,” Holiday said in an exclusive interview with Parade.com. “When I was a young kid, especially as a young, Black, gay kid, I didn’t really see myself reflected in a lot of love songs that were out there. But one thing I knew for sure is that there had to be some representation out there for someone that looked like me. I wanted for something to be out in the universe that represented that for me, that represented love and that represented the ideal of searching for love and surrender.” Surrender because Holiday believes that when you’re really in love with somebody, you surrender to the idea of love, and you surrender to your pursuit of what happiness is in your life. He should know because he recently fell in love and is now engaged. “Being able to do that is something that’s really, really important to me, to share and give love, to share that space, that energy of love and share it with everybody,” he continued. “In this song when I heard it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God.’” It turns out that “Alive in Me,” which was the first song that Holiday recorded for his album, is also turning out to be his first single because the subject matter is the perfect fit for his beliefs. “One of the things about me, and I hope people were able to see that from my time on the show, is what I try to do in my life is let love abound,” he said. “I think that is something that the world needs more of. In such times as these, I feel like it’s a message that can’t be preached enough. Love is there if you only search for it and stay open for it. I’m hopeful that this song will be a representation of that in as many people’s lives as it has been in mine. Every time I hear it, I tear up. It’s a beautiful song and I’m lucky to be the vessel.” Legend has yet to hear Holiday’s new music even though the two are in touch every three weeks or so, because his former team member wants his The Voice mentor to be surprised by it. “What we were like on the show was something that has transcended the show,” Holiday said. “Our relationship has been just wonderful post show. I can email him and ask him questions about anything.” Even before appearing on The Voice, Holiday was a renowned classical vocalist who performed with several opera companies around the world, including touring with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. We talked to him about some of those upcoming dates here in the U.S., as well as the affect that The Voice has had on his life and career, including finding love and getting engaged. What has life has been like since The Voice? I’ve been really lucky since The Voice that things are opening back up, so I’ve been able to start doing concerts again, and work on my album, which has been the most exciting thing. Everything in so many different ways is opening up, life is blossoming, and I’m feeling really lucky and really happy. I’m really thrilled to have this single coming out leading up to an album. Everything that I could have hoped for, and in fact some things that I didn’t even dream about, are happening so that’s really good. You stayed in L.A. for meetings after The Voice. Who reached out to you that wanted to work with you? I did stay afterwards to talk with people. I met with Greg Wells, who’s an agent producer. Diane Warren wanted to write music for me and had sent me some songs for the album. We’re still trying to see if they’re going to make it onto the album. I met with Tony Bracy, who works with Justin Bieber. I met with some record companies and some record execs. I talked with Tony Maserati, Max Gousse and many, many incredible people along the way who were really excited to work with me and get to know me from having seen me on The Voice, or prior to my arrival on The Voice. Some of the people were already starting to talk with me, so it just helped to have the national attention from The Voice. Did you ever think the day would come when you would say, “Diane Warren sent me some songs, but I just don’t know if I’m going to have room on my album for them”? I did not. I did not know that it ever would exist that Diane Warren would want to write for me. She’s really incredible. She’s a firecracker; I love her. Even people like Greg Wells, I never thought that was possible. I knew of them but never thought that that would happen for me. So, I’m just really excited that God has blessed me to see a time in my life where the fruit of my labor is paying off and people are really being able to see the kind of artist that I am and the artist that I endeavor to be. The cool thing about that for me is that I get to work with people who are equally as excited about me as I am about them. I went back and I listened to your “Misty” audition song before we spoke. It stands the test of time. Will there be any classics like that on the album? Or is it going to be all new music? There will be some classics on there. There’ll be a good mixture of things on the album. I think there’s going to be a lot of new music, because I think that’s important. It’s important to put my own stamp on something brand-new so I wanted to have that. But I definitely will have some classics. Not too many, but there’ll be some there, I promise. It would be great if you came back for season 21 of The Voice to perform your single. It would be fun if they invited me to come back and sing. That would be a great, great thrill. I enjoyed being on the show so much and I definitely loved working with John. I have found him to be such a wonderful friend and a mentor. He’s just a great guy. I’d be happy to do that. You’re going to be at the Hollywood Bowl on August 10. The program is Dudamel Conducts Gershwin. What will you be singing? I’m going to be singing “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Summertime,” “The Way You Hold Your Hat,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” I’m doing four pieces. Is this something that you would have done if you had never been on The Voice? Or did The Voice help with this booking? I have an established relationship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Dudamel and I actually have a wonderful rapport. I did a tour with Los Angeles Philharmonic before The Voice. I think two years before The Voice, I sang at Disney Hall, the “Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms,” which then toured to New York City and then from New York to London and Paris. I have a great relationship with them. I think that it would have existed even if The Voice hadn’t existed for me, to be honest with you. But the thing about The Voice is that it gives me a bigger audience. More people probably will want to come out and see me because of the exposure that I had on national TV. But certainly, I would have had this booking even if The Voice didn’t exist. And then you have Metropolitan Opera. This is your first time doing that? It’s my third time back at the Metropolitan Opera, but my first time actually debuting on the stage. I’ve been an understudy before, which we call cover. I’ve been a cover. My first job there was in 2013 or 2014. I covered the role of Nireno in Julius Caesar. In fact, before the pandemic happened, I was supposed to make my Metropolitan Opera debut this February. But, of course, that did not happen because of the pandemic. So, I was already scheduled to come back to the Metropolitan Opera in the fall, which will now end up being my debut. Then I’ll come back and do something with them in 2024, which is being written for me right now as one of the leading roles for this upcoming opera. But between those, I have some recitals and John Holiday Experience shows in Milwaukee, D.C., North Carolina, and all over the place. I’m just excited to be back on the road and able to see people. One of the things that I really love is people and I love the idea of being able to connect with people. So, this is just another way to do that. Even though we’re still in the pandemic, it’s a way for me to get out there and share my gift with everyone, share the gift of music, and the gift of love. I think everybody needs that. While you were on The Voice, you were a teacher at Lawrence University. Are you still doing that? I’m still there. It’s summertime right now, so I’m not doing it right now. This is so weird, but last year was probably the busiest that I’ve been even with the pandemic because we were filming the show. While I was filming, I was still teaching. So, I am enjoying my summer break, but I will be back. We start school in September, so I’m already looking forward to that. I’m assigning my students their repertoire over the summer. Sometimes my fiancé and I will do some things with music, and we’ll have lessons and things like that, but other than that I’m not teaching at all. Is this a new engagement? This is a new engagement, yeah. Somebody you met since doing The Voice? Since doing The Voice, yes. Have you set a wedding date? Yes, a wedding date is set for next July. I’ll share more later. When you were on The Voice, you talked about your grandmother being your biggest supporter. How does she feel about everything that’s going on for you since she was the one who said go do? Big Momma is always asking me things. In fact, when I last saw her, she asked me about the album. She’s like, “When is it coming out, John?” I was like, “Well, it’s coming out in the fall, but we’re going to roll out singles first,” because that’s what happens with albums, singles first and then the album will come out. She’s just excited about that. She knows how hard I’ve been working, and she knows how long I’ve been wanting to do something like this. So, she’s really excited. I get chills when I talk about it, but more than anything my grandmother knows how hard I’ve prayed and how long I’ve prayed for these moments to occur in my life. And, actually, for her as well, just seeing the fruit of your labor and the fruit of your prayers. One thing I know for sure is that I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors, and I know that I am what I think that they have hoped that I would become. I continue to pray, and I continue to seek God in everything that I’m doing. My grandmother is so excited to see all of the wonderful things happening in my life. She’s just really, really, really excited. What is the dream now? Has it changed or stayed the same? That’s a good question. I always talk about freedom, to be free in everything that I’m doing, to have nothing hold me back, to just soar. I think that’s the dream, to soar in whatever direction God will have me to soar in. Right now, I’m on the journey and I think for me, too, the dream is going to always evolve. I want happiness. I want love, which I have found. I want to soar in my music. I hope that people will love what I do as a singer and an artist. I want to bring other people joy and love and remind them that everything that they seek to be they already are, everything that they seek to have is already within them, and that that dream is just to allow people to see themselves in me. If I can do it, they can do it, and along the way I hope that my music brings them joy, love and happiness, and allows them to hopefully soar. Jennifer Hudson didn’t win but she is the big winner from her season of American Idol. Do you look at that as an example of a career to emulate? I do, I look at that. In fact, my fiancé talks all the time about how Jennifer Hudson has such a big career. My biggest prayer for myself is that God will use me in whatever way that He can and use me to the fullest. My biggest hope in life has always been since I was a little boy to just be a vessel for goodness and love. I pray that that’s what will happen, and that people will stream this music, buy the music, and just turn up. I hope that my career ends up being like Jennifer Hudson’s. That’s a career that I admire. “Alive in Me” is available as of today on digital and streaming platforms with a video to follow August 13. Next,The Sensational Sounds of The Voice Will Return in September: Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Season 21
