Pell City native building on performance, experience on The Voice
Story by Scottie Vickery
Photos by Graham Hadley
Submitted Photos
Berritt Haynes is no stranger to life-changing news, so when a talent recruiter from television’s The Voice told him to pack his bags and head for Los Angeles last May, it was sort of a “same song, different verse” situation. This time, however, the verse was a whole lot sweeter.
The Pell City native and his family were first stopped in their tracks by unexpected news when Berritt was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart disease at age 8. Eleven years later, the call welcoming the 19-year-old aspiring singer-songwriter to Season 21 of the NBC reality singing competition was much more fun.
“We were all whooping and hollering,” Berritt’s mother, Monica Haynes, said. “It was so loud, Berritt had to go outside to talk to her.”
Although he was eliminated in the Knockout Round of the competition that aired last fall, Berritt said he has no regrets. He earned high praises from the celebrity judges, including country singer Blake Shelton, who was Berritt’s team coach, and he said he grew as a singer, a performer and a person.
“This whole experience has been so amazing!!” Berritt said in a social media post after his elimination. “This is only the beginning, y’all!”
Since then, Berritt has been playing as many gigs as he can, writing music, honing his craft and continuing to dream big. “I’ve gotten a lot more confident, and my voice is stronger than before I went,” he said. “I’m just playing as much as I can and hopefully, something will come of it.”
Heartbreaking news
Berritt, who turns 20 on April 12, was at his 8-year-old checkup when his pediatrician, Dr. Keith Stansell, heard a heart murmur he hadn’t heard before. “A lot of doctors would have said to watch it for a while, but he’d seen Berritt all his life and knew it hadn’t been there before,” Monica said. “We sing his praises all the time.”
Berritt was referred to a cardiologist, who diagnosed him with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s a disease in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. It’s often known as “sudden death disease” because it can cause life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms, and it’s the most common cause of heart-related sudden death in young people.
“They kept asking who in our family had died in their early 30s, but there was no one,” said Monica, adding that the disease is usually inherited. Genetic testing revealed that she has it as well, although her case is not as severe as her son’s. Berritt’s youngest sister, 13-year-old Kynlee, carries the gene but so far has not developed the disease. His father, Jeremy, and his sisters, EllaGrace, 14, and 17-year-old Ryleigh, have no heart issues.
“It was devastating,” Monica said. “I had a lot of mama guilt for a long time just knowing I gave that to my kid.”
Berritt’s lifestyle changed immediately after the diagnosis. He loved sports, but he had to quit playing baseball and football. At 14, after passing out on a hunting trip with his grandfather, Berritt had surgery to have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) placed in his chest. The battery-operated device detects abnormal heart rhythms and will provide an electric shock if necessary to make his heart beat normally.
Three years later, in 2019, 17-year-old Berritt underwent open heart surgery at the end of his junior year of high school. “My family and the Lord are what got me through it,” Berritt said when he shared his testimony a few months later.
Although Berritt had to give up a lot of things he loved, he discovered some new joys, as well. Right after the diagnosis, his parents started him in competitive BB gun shooting events so he could still compete in an outdoor activity. He won a number of awards in competitions all over the South, including a gold medal in the Alabama State Games. In 2013, he was named the ASF Foundation’s Male Athlete of the Year. “My dream is to one day compete in the Olympics,” Berritt said at the time.
It was music, though, that truly captured his heart. Both of his parents sing in the church choir, and even as a toddler, “Berritt would sit in our laps during practice,” Monica said. “He would sit there and sing his little heart out.”
That’s why they also enrolled him in guitar lessons after he had to give up sports. “We told him, ‘You can still be playing this when you’re 70, but you wouldn’t be playing baseball at 70,’” Monica said. In addition, Berritt started singing and playing with the praise band at his family’s church, Seddon Baptist Church, and he played the alto sax and tenor sax with the Pell City High School Jazz Band.
“I just love music,” said Berritt, who was singing with the praise band again two weeks after his surgery. “I really love singing worship songs.”
In full voice
Following his surgery, Make-a-Wish, a nonprofit that fulfills wishes of kids with critical illnesses, arranged for Berritt to be in the audience during a taping of The Voice and to meet the judges. COVID-19 derailed the plans, though, and Make-a-Wish refurbished Berritt’s pickup truck instead.
Berritt’s mom knew about her son’s dreams, though, so she took matters into her own hands and submitted a video of Berritt singing Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven to The Voice. He had auditioned twice before – once in middle school, once in high school – but the third time was the charm.
The initial call from the talent recruiter came during a family movie night. Monica saw a California number on her screen, thought it was spam, and let it go to voicemail. “Y’all are going to want to pause the movie for this,” she told her family after listening to the message.
When word finally came months later that Berritt had officially made the cut, he packed two suitcases, his guitar and a backpack and headed for Los Angeles. The shows were pre-recorded with audiences of about 150 screaming fans. “Sometimes you can’t hear what you’re doing,” he said.
The first time he took the stage during the “Blind Auditions” and sang Brett Young’s Mercy, Berritt tried not to think about the more than 7 million viewers who would eventually be watching the show’s premiere. “At that point, I was just singing for my coaches,” he said of celebrity judges Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Ariana Grande and Shelton. “When Blake turned around (to signify he wanted the singer on his team) all those nerves I had went away.”
Although Berritt, who graduated from Pell City in 2020, didn’t get a lot of air time during the show, the judges were quick to praise his talents. “I think you’re just a damn good singer,” Shelton told him following his first performance. In other shows, Clarkson said “his tone was cool” and told Berritt, “I was just captivated by you.”
During the two and a half months he was in Los Angeles, Berritt got to work with a vocal coach for the first time and enjoyed hanging out, singing and playing games with his fellow contestants. He also added a few new pieces to his wardrobe.
“There was nothing they gave me that didn’t fit me tight,” he said with a laugh. Although he got to keep a leather jacket, shirts and a few pair of jeans, he said the best thing he got from the experience was the feedback and encouragement from the coaches.
“Blake always had nothing but good things to say about what I was doing, what I was singing,” Berritt said. “They really build up your confidence. They want you to do good; they want you to be successful.”
Since he’s been home, Berritt has worked some as a substitute teacher to earn some extra money while continuing to do what he loves most – make music. He released a new single, Sidewalks of Birmingham, on all streaming platforms in January, served as grand marshal of the Pell City Christmas Parade and is performing as often as he can. In addition to playing Lakeside Live and other venues, he recently opened for Girl Named Tom, the Season 21 winner, at Iron City in Birmingham.
“The whole experience was amazing,” Berritt said. “With all the stuff I’ve been through, I just didn’t think I’d ever make it that far or amount to anything. It’s been a dream come true.” l
Editor’s Note: Want to keep up with Berritt’s career? Follow him on Instagram @berritt.haynes or on Facebook at Berritt Haynes Music.
