{"id":429198,"date":"2025-12-06T17:04:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T17:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/429198\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T17:04:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T17:04:13","slug":"from-the-voice-to-the-vikings-southeast-minnesota-musician-is-excited-for-what-comes-next-post-bulletin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/429198\/","title":{"rendered":"From ‘The Voice’ to the Vikings, Southeast Minnesota musician is ‘excited for what comes next’ – Post Bulletin"},"content":{"rendered":"

KASSON, Minn. \u2014 There\u2019s a tune Cori Kennedy lives by as an \u201cordinary Minnesota gal experiencing the music industry\u201d: gratitude. She thanks her family, \u201cThe Voice\u201d judges and community, friends and people who\u2019ve cheered for her along the journey.<\/p>\n

She carried a set of encouraging words into her last performance on <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Voice\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

from Grandma Linda Kennedy: \u201cWhatever is meant to happen to you is going to happen to you today.\u201d While living in Nashville and preparing to sing the national anthem at the Vikings game on Sunday, Kennedy said that outlook has helped with \u201ctaking it all in stride.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a \u201cMinnesota girl through and through\u201d from West Concord, Kennedy is excited to step onto the field at U.S. Bank Stadium to sing at the Vikings vs. Commanders game on Sunday, Dec. 7. The crowd will mark her largest in-person audience yet. However, she\u2019s performed the challenging song for wrestling matches and the professional softball championship in Illinois. She\u2019s grateful, too, for the Vikings creating a \u201cfamily experience\u201d with lots of family members as her \u201centourage.\u201d<\/p>\n

There’ll be one team member missing: Adam Thielen, who was <\/p>\n

waived to play with the Steelers.<\/a><\/p>\n

Thielen played football at Minnesota State University Mankato, where Kennedy \u2014 albeit years later \u2014 played softball. Kennedy also played basketball and volleyball at Kasson-Mantorville High School, where she graduated in 2015, and was inducted into the Komets Hall of Fame in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had a couple of people already ask me like, \u2018Oh, aren’t you nervous in front of that many people?\u2019 I’m like girl, \u2026 I don’t think anything’s going to be scarier than my blind audition on the show,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cSo now it’s like I’m delusional, where it’s like I can’t do anything now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"582906435_18535554169009891_9084621478897314432_n.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Cori Kennedy, a West Concord native and 2015 Kasson-Mantorville graduate, on the set of “The Voice” season 28 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Contributed \/ Cori Kennedy<\/p>\n

Known for her storytelling-style, country-music songs, including \u201cHey Who Shot the Water Tower,\u201d Kennedy shared an <\/p>\n

original song during her blind audition.<\/a><\/p>\n

The song featured lyrics about her \u201cMinnesota roots\u201d and nods to judges Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg, Niall Horan and Michael Bubl\u00e9. Her creative tune was an instant hit on social media as well as with articles by national publications.<\/p>\n

The style of her <\/p>\n

knockout performance<\/a><\/p>\n

was a \u201crock star\u201d experience, as Bubl\u00e9 described during the Season 28 episode that aired on Nov. 17, with \u201cYou and I\u201d by Lady Gaga. In the \u201cfull-circle moment,\u201d Kennedy shared the same song she debuted her music performing journey with. Her original performance was a surprise by her college softball coach at a talent show. Kennedy won the talent show and lost the knockout.<\/p>\n

While the song plays a \u201csignificant role\u201d in her journey, it\u2019s her Grandma Linda and Grandpa David Kennedy who have supported every note. Kennedy credits her grandmother for \u201chelping me keep my head on straight because that woman is my rock\u201d while the show was filming in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

During their many phone calls, Grandma Linda steadfastly shared how she was praying for Cori, whom she calls Bug. She commonly includes the refrain \u201cI feel the Holy Spirit in my chest,\u201d too. Grandma Linda and Cori also love to have private concerts with the two of them singing together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember her calling me that morning of the knockout rounds and obviously, like you’re a little angsty about these things,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cShe goes, \u2018Bug, I got my sign today that you’re going to be okay. That whatever is meant to happen to you is going to happen to you today.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She described the conversation as a \u201cfreeing moment.\u201d Kennedy saw another sign in a conversation with makeup artist Darcy, who dreamed just the day before that she was going to a Lady Gaga concert. Much like Kennedy\u2019s upcoming performance of a Lady Gaga song.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I went on the stage, it was just this like really comforting feeling of you know what, I’m going to leave it all out there and whatever is meant to happen to me today is going to happen. Whether I win or lose, it’s all going to happen for a reason,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Before singing at college, in TikTok videos and on \u201cThe Voice,\u201d Kennedy said her grandparents were the \u201cbiggest supporter for all of us grandkids.\u201d Like wearing jackets embroidered with their six grandchildren\u2019s names and visiting Kasson-Mantorville schools on their proclaimed <\/p>\n

“Cori Kennedy Day.”<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were the reason that I got into music because they used to give me the keys to their little country church in Berne, Minnesota. And I would go out there late at night and play piano and sing my heart out,\u201d Kennedy said while adding that her grandparents gifted her a Yamaha keyboard. \u201c… I owe everything with my music to my grandparents. \u2026 They’re just the best. It doesn’t get any better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

While living a musician\u2019s dream competing on \u201cThe Voice,\u201d she\u2019s most grateful for the \u201cconnections\u201d like making lots of friends with the contestants and lessons from the \u201cmusic legends\u201d Snoop Dogg, Horan, McEntire, Bubl\u00e9, Nick Jonas and Joe Walsh. She opened two episodes during the season and <\/p>\n

won her battle round<\/a><\/p>\n

while singing \u201cSomethin\u2019 Bad\u201d by Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, ‘You know what \u2014 this may be the end on the show but we are very, very far from the end of my career. It’s actually only the beginning,'” Kennedy said. \u201cSo I remember leaving the show, I was so excited for what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s writing more storytelling songs \u201clike a mad woman\u201d and working on music with fellow “Voice” contestants in Nashville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s going to be lots of Cori Kennedy music coming out, we’ll have singles, we’ll have albums and we’ll have some live shows too. So just stay tuned because there\u2019s a lot of fun things in the works and a lot of good things take time so I just ask my fan base to stay patient because more things are coming,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n

\"565153042_18529055392009891_5061229259408251733_n.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Cori Kennedy, a West Concord native and 2015 Kasson-Mantorville graduate, on the set of “The Voice” season 28 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Contributed \/ Cori Kennedy<\/p>\n

\"568189986_18530554966009891_1743570514609302173_n.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Cori Kennedy, a West Concord native and 2015 Kasson-Mantorville graduate, on the set of “The Voice” season 28 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Contributed \/ Cori Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KASSON, Minn. \u2014 There\u2019s a tune Cori Kennedy lives by as an \u201cordinary Minnesota gal experiencing the music…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":429199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[119955,119956,199579,171,119957,199580,199581,119960,173,67,132,68,199582],"class_list":{"0":"post-429198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-cori-kennedy","9":"tag-cori-kennedy-music","10":"tag-cori-kennedy-the-voice","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-kasson-mn","13":"tag-kasson-mantorville-voice-contestant","14":"tag-southeast-minnesota-musician","15":"tag-the-voice-season-28","16":"tag-tv","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-west-concord-mn"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}