“My name is Ricky Duran.I’m 29 years old.And I’m from Worcester, Massachusetts.”
That’s how it all started on October 7, after Ricky Duran performed “River” by soul singer Leon Bridges in the blind auditions of NBC’s singing competition show, The Voice.
The weeks to follow would culminate in Duran finishing as the runner-up to country singer Jake Hoot.
For that blind audition performance, Duran would receive a standing ovation from the show’s competition coaches Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Blake Shelton.
Duran would choose country music star Shelton as his coach and move forward into the Emmy-award winning show’s battle rounds.
The official video of Duran’s blind audition performance would be viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Watch it here:
Two weeks later, Duran would take on Marina Chello in the show’s battle rounds while they sang“Valerie” by Amy Winehouse.
After their performance, Shelton said, “Ricky is a star.He’s going to be a threat to everyone in this competition.I love his voice and I love the way he gets lost in the moment.Moving forward, we got to find more songs that he can apply that kind of talent to.”
And Shelton and Duran did just that.
The following week, during The Voice‘s knockout rounds, Duran sang “She Talks to Angels” by The Black Crowes
Shelton chose Duran over 15-year-old Joanna Martinez of Miami, FL who performed “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas & Papas.
“Ricky Duran is not only soulful, he also rocks.I know I’m going to be able to count on him in these live performances,” Shelton said after choosing Duran to move on the show’s live playoffs.
On Nov. 11, Duran opened the show’s live playoffs with John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” and for the first time in the competition, Duran had his guitar in hand.
It certainly wouldn’t be the last time.
The fans voted Duran to continue on into the The Voice Top 13 and, a week later on Nov. 18, Duran performed“You are the Best Thing” by Ray Lamontagne and dedicated his performance to his girlfriend, Alyssa Tosti.
On Nov. 25, during the show’s Top 11 live performances, Duran was the final performer on opening night of “Fan Week” and rocked an electric rendition of Tom Waits’ “Downtown Train” at the request of his fans.
On Dec. 2 — nearly two months from Duran’s debut on the show — he performed Albert King’s blues classic “Born Under a Bad Sign” to advance into the show’s Top 8.
Duran’s rendition of the song is still the #1 on the iTunes Blues charts.
The following weekwould be what some might consider Duran’s defining moment on the show and catapulted Duran into the show’s finale.
Duran opened his performance of The Beatles’ “Let it Be” playing the song on a piano before he took his guitar to a raised stage surrounded by backup singers.
Duran described the song as his “family anthem.”
“It’s a song that makes us remember good times,” Duran said, whose father took his own life and, earlier this year, Duran lost his mother to breast cancer.
“I’m going to find peace in singing this song.And I can just imagine my mom comforting me and tell me to let it be,” an emotional Duran said before his performance.
On Monday night’s opening night of The Voice finale, Duran sang a trio of songs, including a cover of Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream, ” an original performance “A Woman Like Her,” and a classic holiday song “Run Rudolph Run” with Shelton.
