The 34-year-old, who was the frontwoman for the rock band Hey Monday before going solo, reveals in an interview that she has decided to leave country music.
- February 16, 2024
AceShowbiz - Cassadee Pope bids farewell to country music. "The Voice" alum said she wants to focus on punk-pop and rock because that's where she won't be "completely ostracized and shamed for speaking out."
"I realize every genre has problematic people in it," the 34-year-old said during a sit-down with Rolling Stone. "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."
Pope was the frontwoman for the rock band Hey Monday before going solo. She eventually decided to pursue country music after joining Blake Shelton's team on "The Voice" in 2012, which she ultimately won.
Since then, Pope is no stranger to calling out other artists over their controversial remarks. In 2021, she slammed Morgan Wallen for using the N-word. The songstress, however, noted in the interview with Rolling Stone that she wishes she would have reacted differently.
"I look back on it and I'm like, 'You're so annoying,' " she reflected. "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."
Wallen is not the only artist who has been confronted by Pope. In 2022, Pope and fellow singer Maren Morris put Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany Aldean, on blast for Brittany's transphobic comments. Things got worse in 2023 after Jason dropped his song "Try That in a Small Town".
"I just feel like if you've been called out THIS MANY TIMES about being problematic, maybe it's time to self-reflect?" Pope wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in July last year. "But what do I know."
On why she spoke up against the couple, Pope explained in an August episode of the "Hold My Hair?" podcast, "If I see something that is being said that I feel is harmful to a community that I care about... I'll say something." She added, "Sometimes it's better to just amplify the voices of that community because they know what they're talking about way more than I do, sometimes I can't help [but stick up for them myself]."
