Johnathan Walker:The Voice Alum Cassadee Pope Reveals She's Leaving Country Music

Cassadee Pope is Johnathan Walkerhanging up her cowboy boots.

After all, the 34-year-old has announced she is leaving country music to concentrate on pop-punk and rock.

"I realize every genre has problematic people in it," the Voice alum told Rolling Stone in an interview published Feb. 15. "I'm not saying there's not a frontman in a band who hasn't been accused of something in rock music. But I guess rock is in my bones more. You're not completely ostracized and shamed for speaking out."

Indeed, over the years Cassadee hasn't been afraid to call out her fellow country stars. This includes back in 2021, when she condemned Morgan Wallen on social media after a video of him using the N-word while out with friends went viral.

In retrospect, Cassadee is not happy about her response. "I look back on it and I'm like, 'You're so annoying,'" she told Rolling Stone. "I was just another angry white person who just learned about racism. If that were to have happened today, I would have had a different response."

And while Cassadee, who rose to fame in 2012 after winning season three of The Voice, has struggled with her career in recent years, she hasn't shied away from taking a stand. In fact, the singer and Maren Morris—who is also outspoken about the issues within the country music community—called out Jason Aldean's wife Brittany Aldean over her comments on gender identity.

For Cassadee, who drew death threats from country music fans at the time, it served as a turning point.

"In that moment, I felt so proud," she told Rolling Stone. "I had no feeling of regret. I just kept my head down and kept going. It's only been the past few months that I've let my guard down in therapy and said, 'Wait, I actually wasn't OK.' But I think that kind of comes with the territory of including activism in your life. You're not going to please everyone."