Cassadee Pope has accomplished a lot in her 32 years on this earth. From embarking on a music journey in 2008 with the punk-rock band Hey Monday to becoming the first female winner on season three of The Voice in 2012, she's now a country star, having gotten to work on a country career in Nashville after her victory.

While being honored as one of CMT's Artists of the Year in 2021, Pope talked about how her two musical influences — rock and country — don't need to be exclusive.

"I had a phase where I was trying to downplay the rock side so I'd fit in here," she shares, "And I'm finally just like, you know what? That makes me unique."

Does this mean we could see the Hey Monday hiatus come to an end?

"I mean, there's nothing that's like actually happening with Hey Monday," Pope insists. "It's just I am embracing where I come from."

You will, however, get a little of those rock roots on Pope's new album Thrive, which arrived on October 15. As she puts it, "There are songs on the record that are very Hey Monday."

It's taken some time for Pope to embrace her Hey Monday past. Experiencing a slow down, like most artists did, in 2020 certainly helped her see that she doesn't have to choose between the two.

"The time I had to reflect, the more I realized I'm a pop punk kid at heart," she confesses. "And I do love country music, you know, that was like how I learned to sing was on Martina McBride and Faith Hill."

While her two loves collided on her latest project, so did the producers who worked on the project. Both Nick Wheeler from All American Rejects and Karen Fairchild from Little Big Town had a hand in Thrive.

"So, it's just like my two worlds, my rock world from the past and my current career, with country music and Karen coming together," she says. "It just felt like, really magical."

Pope will embark on her recently-announced 2022 Thrive Tour — named for her latest studio album — in March.

Famous Singers from The Voice, Then + Now

Ten years (and counting) made a huge difference for many of the most popular singers and stars of The VoiceBlake Shelton looks noticeably different, but so do some of country music's most memorable performers.

Winners like Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery wore baby faces when they auditioned during their respective seasons. The same can be said for Morgan Wallen, a forgotten castmember from the show who's transformed more than anyone else on this list of The Voice stars then and now.

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