NBC’s ‘The Voice’ alum Anthony Riley dead at 28

Anthony Riley -

This is a story that is never easy to report. Mere months after he was a contestant on this past season of “The Voice,” contestant Anthony Riley has passed away at the age of 28. According to a local report out of Philadelphia, Riley was found in an apartment, and the cause of death is believed to be suicide.

Riley made a huge impression from the very moment that he auditioned on the show, getting every coach to turn around almost instantly. Eventually he chose to work with Pharrell Williams, and later made it to the Knockout Rounds before withdrawing from the show. It is for this reason that Pharrell had a three-person contest at one point in the round, with both Mia Z and eventual champion Sawyer Fredericks each advancing to the live shows.

Riley had a tremendous talent, but at the time of him withdrawing it seemed to be a move to try to better himself. Therefore, we celebrated him for trying to do something to get himself right rather than prioritizing being in front of America trying to win votes and get some attention for your career.

Below we have a message from Travis Ewing, who competed against Anthony in the Battle Rounds and was later stolen by Blake Shelton at its conclusion. He is one of many former contestants to speak out over the weekend about Riley’s passing. The show itself has yet to officially comment, but it is the weekend and the show is also off-season at the moment. This comes as a big loss to the “Voice” community, especially since you never want to see someone take their own life at such a young age, and with such a potentially great career ahead of them.

Our thoughts go out to Riley’s loved ones, who are hurting more than anyone during what has to be an extremely difficult time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9gAl7ir8qo

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