Here’s where Derby singer Jaelen Johnston placed on Tuesday’s finale of ‘The Voice’
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Derby country singer Jaelen Johnston got as close to winning “The Voice” as a singer can get without actually winning.
On Tuesday, the 22-year-old singer finished as the runner-up on the NBC singing competition. He came in second to Adam David, a 35-year-old singer from Fort Lauderdale.
Just before the winner was named, Johnston — the only country singer in the show’s Top 5 — was assured by celebrity coach Kelsea Ballerini that he had nothing to worry about, regardless of who won.
“You’re a good good man and you’re a great, great artist, and you’re going to get it, whether it’s here tonight or beyond that,” said Ballerini, who earlier in the finale harmonized with Johnston through a duet of “Whiskey Lullaby,” a song made famous by Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss.
Renzo from Philadelphia placed third in the competition. Lucia Flores-Wiseman from Maple Valley, Washington, placed fourth; and Jadyn Cree from Lincoln, Nebraska, placed fifth.
Season 27, which started airing in early February, was a bit of a roller coaster for Johnston and his fans. Though he easily made it through round after round and ultimately became one of the top 20 semifinalists, he was eliminated on the April 29 episode.
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Then, a week later, the show introduced a surprise twist called the “Super Save” and allowed each of the four celebrity judges to bring back one previously eliminated contestant.
Ballerini chose Johnston to return, and the next night, it was revealed that viewer votes had propelled him into the show’s Top 5.
The two-night finale started on Monday, when each of the five finalists performed two songs. Johnston started with a cover of Dierks Bentley’s “What Was I Thinkin’” but stumbled on the lyrics to the second verse. He stepped away from the microphone for a couple of seconds and threw his hands up in the air, then quickly recovered and finished the song. (Immediately following the end of the song, host Carson Daly also stumbled, saying Johnston was from Derby, Texas.)
Ballerini acknowledged the mistake but showed her support.
“I know that you had a moment early on where you got nervous,” she said. “But the thing is, this is the most nerve-wracking thing you can do, and the way you recover is the only thing that matters.... That was the most impressive part. You really showed up. I’m so proud of you.”
Johnston redeemed himself with his next song, which was the last performance on Monday night. He sang a soaring, mistake-free cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Cold.”
“I didn’t know how good you were until you did that song,” Ballerini said when he was finished and encouraged the viewing public to vote for Johnston.
Johnston, who previously told The Eagle that he got his courage up to sing in public only about five years ago, said his musical influences include Stapleton, Zach Bryan, Treaty Oak Revival and “hands down, the king himself, George Strait.”
His love of music, he said, started at age 16, when his grandparents gave him a guitar. A regular on local bar stages, Johnston will perform at this year’s Wichita Riverfest, when he opens for country singer Chris Johnson on June 7.
At the time he started competing on “The Voice” Johnston had worked for three years as a general maintenance and repair technician at McConnell Air Force Base. He quit his job in February so he could focus on music full time.
A 2021 Derby High School graduate, Johnston said that he first tried out for “The Voice” for season 26, but he didn’t make it past the open call. When season 27 auditions came around, Johnston’s mother — Tonya Johnston — asked him if he planned to try again. He was noncommittal, so she set up the audition.
This time, Johnston made it past the open call and participated in several more rounds of virtual auditions. He was eventually invited to travel to Hollywood and perform for the judges.
During a phone interview after his initial elimination, Johnston said that he was more determined than ever to pursue music as a career, and the exposure he got from the show will no doubt help tremendously, as will having met and worked with stars including Ballerini, Sheryl Crow and members of the group Little Big Town.
“It’s definitely kind of solidified in my mind that music is what I’m supposed to be doing,” he said. “That’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2025 at 10:13 PM.
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