Singer Cassadee Pope is a powerful performer with a style that straddles anthemic emo and pop-punk, as well as country. The winner of the third season of NBC’s The Voice, Pope initially got her start with the band Hey Monday. Her debut solo album, 2013’s Frame by Frame, reached number one on the country charts and the pop Top Ten — thanks in no small part to “Wasting All These Tears,” a number five country hit. Another single, the Chris Young duet “Think of You,” peaked at number one on country airplay and earned gold status in 2016. Pope’s second full-length, Stages, arrived in 2019, again hitting the Top 40 of the country albums chart. With 2021’s Thrive she returned to a more rock-oriented approach, and she further embraced her pop-punk roots in 2023 with singles like “Coma” and “Wasting All These Tears (Cassadee’s Version).”
Hold on Tight
Born in 1989 in West Palm Beach, Florida, Pope first started singing in middle school. In 2008, she co-founded the punk-pop band Hey Monday along with guitarist Mike Gentile, and they released their debut album, Hold on Tight. Several EPs followed in 2010 and 2011, and they toured as the opening band for such acts as Fall Out Boy and Yellowcard, and appeared on the Vans Warped Tour.
Summer
In 2012, Pope parted ways with Hey Monday to pursue a solo career, and around the same time auditioned for and was accepted on NBC’s reality singing competition The Voice. Choosing to join judge Blake Shelton’s team, Pope eventually won, beating out teammate Terry McDermott. Pope signed to Universal Music Group and worked on her first solo album, Frame by Frame, which was released in October 2013 and included her debut single, “Wasting All These Tears.” She toured extensively behind the album, spending much of 2014 on the road opening shows for Tim McGraw and Dierks Bentley. The following year, Pope returned with the single “I Am Invincible.” Another track, “Think of You,” a duet with Chris Young, followed in January 2016. It became a radio favorite and went all the way to number one on the country airplay survey, and then went gold. That June, Pope released a four-song EP, fittingly titled Summer.
She then parted ways with her label and signed with Fusion Music. In 2018, she marked the change with the single “Take You Home.” Also that year, she returned to The Voice, working as an advisor to coach Kelly Clarkson’s team. A second full-length album, the Corey Crowder-produced Stages, arrived in February 2019 and featured “Take You Home” as well as the single “If My Heart Had a Heart.” It reached number 39 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. An all-acoustic album, Rise and Shine, appeared in June 2020.
Pope’s third studio album, Thrive, arrived in October 2021. Produced by Nickolas Wheeler and Karen Fairchild, it found her returning to more a rock-oriented approach, as evidenced by singles like “What the Stars See” and “Say It First.” Although she bridged her country and rock influences with her acoustic 2022 duet with Levi Hummon, “RSVP,” she continued her transition back to her rock roots with 2023’s anthemic “People That I Love” featuring Jax. Pointing toward a fourth album, Pope delivered several more pop-punk-infused singles that year, including “Coma” with Taylor Acorn and “Wasting All These Tears (Cassadee’s Version).”