Taylor John Williams

Singer and songwriter Taylor John Williams was born in Eugene, Oregon on June 6, 1991. Always drawn to music and singing, he was encouraged by one of his teachers to sing at his high-school graduation ceremony in 2009, and he never looked back, developing an appealing folk-rock style. Following his graduation from Sheldon High School, he released a debut EP, Proverbial Elephant, that same year (2009). He attended Portland State University for a time, but dropped out to devote himself to music. Williams was working at a Portland bar and gigging as a street performer when he auditioned for the seventh season of NBC's The Voice in 2014. Ending up on Gwen Stefani's team, he didn't make it through to the finals, but his fine voice and quirky arrangements of covers, particularly his version of Lorde's "Royals," earned him plenty of new fans, setting him up quite nicely for an ongoing career as a performer. ~ Steve Leggett