Craig Wayne Boyd

Craig Wayne Boyd
Background information
Birth name	Craig Wayne Boyd[1]
Born	1978/1979 (age 36–37)[2] Mesquite, Texas, United States
Genres	Country country rock
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Dot Universal Republic
Associated acts	Blake Shelton
Website	http://www.craigwayneboyd.com/

Craig Wayne Boyd otherwise known as C-W-B is an American country singer and songwriter best known for winning Season 7 of NBC's reality TV singing competition The Voice as a part of Blake Shelton's team.

Early life

Boyd was born and raised in the Dallas, Texas, suburb of Mesquite. He grew up influenced by gospel and country music. He played many instruments as a youth. He was also his church's choir director.

Career

Early years

Boyd moved to Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 25 in 2004 to pursue a career in country music. Boyd was signed to a publishing deal with EMI. He spent many years songwriting. Boyd began touring, opening for acts such as Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, and Brantley Gilbert.

2014–present: The Voice

On September 30, 2014, Boyd debuted on seventh season of The Voice. During his Blind Audition, Boyd sang "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" by Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart. Two coaches (Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams) turned around. Boyd chose Blake Shelton as his coach. During the Battle Rounds, Boyd was paired with James David Carter to sing "Wave on Wave"" by Pat Green. Coach Shelton chose Carter over Boyd, but Boyd was saved by Coach Gwen Stefani. In the Knockout Rounds, Boyd was paired with Anita Antoinette. Boyd sang "Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band. Boyd lost the round, but was stolen back by Coach Shelton and advanced to the Live Playoffs. During the Live Playoffs, Boyd sang "Some Kind of Wonderful" and was saved by the Public's votes to advance to the Top 12. For the week of the Top 12, Boyd performed "You Look So Good in Love" by George Strait. Boyd was saved by the public's votes. For the week of the Top 10, Boyd performed "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash. Boyd was saved by the public vote with his performance in the Top 10 of the iTunes Chart. For the week of the Top Eight, Boyd performed "Take It Easy" by the Eagles. Boyd was saved by the public vote and advanced to the Top Five. For the week of the Semifinals, Coach Shelton picked "Workin' Man Blues" by Merle Haggard for Boyd to sing and Boyd also sang "The Old Rugged Cross" which was in the iTunes Top 10. Boyd advanced to the finals. For the week of the Finals, Boyd performed three songs. He performed "In Pictures" by Alabama as his solo song. He performed "Boots On" by Randy Houser as a duet with his coach Blake Shelton. He also performed an original song called "My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face". The song was written for Shelton, but he decided to give it to Boyd. The song is Boyd's debut single.^[3]

Boyd was declared the winner on December 16, 2014, giving Blake Shelton's team its fourth win out of the seven Seasons.^[4]

Shortly after winning the show and signing with Universal Republic and Dot Records, Boyd played at the Grand Ole Opry and went on 65 city tour.^[5][6] His debut album is to be released sometime in 2015. In early May 2015, following 6 weeks of rumors, it was reported that Boyd parted ways with Dot. He tweeted that "it's called I ASK off of the label....". Boyd released one single under Dot records "My Baby’s Got A Smile On Her Face", which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs before falling off that chart with a 94% drop in sales the next week.. His second single "I'm Still Here" was released to iTunes under his own imprint - Long Haul Records.^[7]

     – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes

Stage	Song	Original Artist	Date	Order	Result
Blind Audition	"The Whiskey Ain't Workin'"	Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart	September 30, 2014	4.7	Pharrell Williams and Blake Shelton turned Joined Team Blake
Battle Rounds (Top 48)	"Wave on Wave" (vs. James David Carter)	Pat Green	October 13, 2014	7.4	Defeated Stolen by Gwen Stefani
Knockout Rounds (Top 32)	"Can't You See" (vs. Anita Antoinette)	The Marshall Tucker Band	November 3, 2014	13.7	Defeated Stolen by Blake Shelton
Live Playoffs (Top 20)	"Some Kind of Wonderful"	Soul Brothers Six	November 10, 2014	15.10	Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 12	"You Look So Good in Love"	George Strait	November 17, 2014	18.10
Live Top 10	"I Walk the Line"	Johnny Cash	November 24, 2014	20.6
Live Top 8	"Take It Easy"	Eagles	December 1, 2014	22.2
Live Top 5 (Semi-Finals)	"Workin' Man Blues"	Merle Haggard	December 8, 2014	24.2
	"The Old Rugged Cross"	George Bennard		24.8
Live Finale	"My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face"	Original Song	December 15, 2014	26.2	Winner
	"Boots On" (with Blake Shelton)	Randy Houser		26.5
	"In Pictures"	Linda Davis		26.9

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Title	Details
Craig Boyd	Release date: June 2, 2008 Label: Independent Formats: CD, music download
I Ain't No Quitter	Release date: March 28, 2013 Label: Independent Formats: CD, music download

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Sales	Album
		US Country	US	CAN
"My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face"	2014	1	34	45	US: 99,000[8]	The Voice: The Complete Season 7 Collection
"I'm Still Here"	2015	—	—	—		TBD

Releases from The Voice

Albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions		Sales
		US Country	US
The Voice: The Complete Season 7 Collection	Release date: December 16, 2014 Label: Universal Republic Formats: CD, music download	35	41	US: 4,000[8]

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Sales	Album
		US Country	US	CAN
"The Whiskey Ain't Workin'"	2014	—	—	—		The Voice: The Complete Season 7 Collection
"Wave on Wave" (with James David Carter)		—	—	—		non-album single
"Can't You See"		—	—	—		The Voice: The Complete Season 7 Collection
"Some Kind of Wonderful"		—	—	—
"You Look So Good in Love"		35	—	—
"I Walk the Line"		15	84	80	US: 46,000[9]
"Take It Easy"		31	—[upper-alpha 1]	—
"Workin' Man Blues"		37	—	—	US: 12,000[10]
"The Old Rugged Cross"		7	59	—	US: 64,000[10][11]
"Boots On" (with Blake Shelton)		33	—	—	US: 23,000[8]
"In Pictures"		28	—[upper-alpha 2]	—	US: 30,000[8]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Notes

1. "Take It Easy" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
2. "In Pictures" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at No. 6 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

References

1. "Craig Wayne Boyd Biography". Buddytv.com. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
2. Yahr, Emily (December 17, 2014). "'The Voice' finale: Why Craig Wayne Boyd was never an underdog". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
3. "Craig Wayne Boyd, 'My Baby's Got a Smile on Her Face'". Tasteofcountry.com. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
4. Ashley Lee (2014-12-16). "'The Voice' Season 7 Winner Craig Wayne Boyd Named: Recap". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
5. "'The Voice' Winner Craig Wayne Boyd Set for Opry Debut". Tasteofcountry.com. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
6. Gabel, Sue (February 14, 2015). "Craig Wayne Boyd, winner of 'The Voice' live at the Snoqualmie Casino Ballroom". axs.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
7. B, Deb (May 5, 2015). "UPDATED: 'Voice' 7 Winner Craig Wayne Boyd No Longer Signed To Dot Records/Big Machine Label Group". mjsbigblog.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
8. "'Voice' Winner Craig Wayne Boyd Debuts at No. 1 on Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
9. Bjorke, Matt (2014-12-03). "Country Music's Top 30 Digital Singles: December 3, 2014". RoughStock. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
10. "Top 30 Digital Singles - December 17, 2014 - Google Sheets". Docs.google.com. 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
11. Bjorke, Matt (2014-12-17). "Country Music's Top 30 Digital Singles: Week of December 17, 2014". RoughStock. Retrieved 2015-08-08.