Hayden Grove sings National Anthem at Cleveland Guardians game. Credit: Joshua Gunter via TNS
It was July 2024, and Hayden Grove was doing what he loves best: singing a song.
More specifically, Grove was singing “Mack the Knife” by Bobby Darin — a track he’d known since childhood. But this Los Angeles performance came with high stakes, as he was fighting for a spot on one of the four teams of NBC’s music-reality show, “The Voice.”
Toward the end of the song, no celebrity coach had turned around in their chair, and it seemed as though Grove’s time on this stage might be short-lived. But not even a minute later, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine decided to take a chance on Grove, securing his spot on the popular competition show.
“To actually get on a team, and then have Adam Levine turn around, was truly, truly a dream come true and a blessing from God,” Grove said.
Grove, an Ohio State journalism alum and former Lantern staff member, said he has balanced careers in journalism and music for years. After participating in “The Voice” and being eliminated during the battle rounds, he is now allowing music to take center stage for the first time.
Grove said he has been passionate about music for his entire life. While growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he was surrounded by music.
Notably, Grove said his father and grandmother played the piano and sang, and that his parents had a massive CD collection — all of which would serve as the catalyst for his love of music
“I was rummaging through my parents’ CD collection growing up, and listening to some amazing artists and all kinds of different genres,” Grove said. “And I kind of happened upon the music of Harry Connick Jr. and Frank Sinatra, and it really just connected with me completely.”
Around the same time, famous crooner Michael Bublé’s career began to take off, further endearing Grove to the jazz and pop genres.
“It just so happened that my voice kind of gravitated towards the lower register, and it just kind of all came into place,” Grove said. “So, I’ve been singing this music specifically since I was probably in sixth grade.”
Grove’s father, Mark Grove, said his son was involved in various activities as a young child; however, music was certainly a focal point.
“Once he got into middle school and upper school, he did a lot more things,” Mark Grove said. “He was in the choruses, he was doing vocal work with the jazz band in high school and was in pretty much almost all of the musicals throughout his high school years.”
In addition, Mark Grove said that although Hayden played numerous sports growing up, it didn’t stop him from pursuing music.
“He was one of the quarterbacks for his high school football team, and on one occasion, he sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ before the game with his pads and cleats on, and went out and played the game,” Mark Grove said.
Hayden Grove’s love for music eventually took him to University of Miami, where he pursued a degree in jazz vocal performance. Notably, Hayden Grove said his experience at Miami just wasn’t what he wanted out of college.
“It was a good opportunity to go to a good school, but I just didn’t think it was the right fit for me,” Hayden Grove said.
In truth, what Hayden Grove really wanted was to be a Buckeye.
“I had always dreamed of going to Ohio State; that was my dream school,” Hayden Grove said. “That was a school that I grew up loving, and [I] grew up wanting to be a Buckeye, honestly.”
After spending a year at Miami University, Hayden Grove transferred to Ohio State and switched his major to journalism. While at the university, he said he decided to take advantage of his previous athletic experiences to become The Lantern’s “asst. sports director” — a position now known as “asst. sports Lantern TV producer.”
“We did a lot of work,” Hayden Grove said. “We covered the [football] team, just as any other reporter would. We just used a different medium; we were in every press conference, we were at every game, we were at everything we could be at, and we just presented it more as a newscast than an article.”
After he graduated, Hayden Grove got a job as a sports reporter with Cleveland.com, covering the Browns, the Guardians and the Cavaliers. His mother, Karen Grove, said music was pushed to the side due to his demanding and hectic work schedule.
“When he first got with Cleveland.com, he was doing social media, and it was kind of new to him,” Karen Grove said. “And so, he really put two feet forward and gave it all he had.”
Personally, Hayden Grove said he felt like the musical part of his life had come to an end.
“For about four years, I had kind of gotten rid of music,” Hayden Grove said. “I still listened to it, but I didn’t really sing much. I just thought that part of my life was fun, and it was over.”
Around this time, Hayden Grove met Mike Petrone, an entertainer and pianist in the Cleveland area, Karen Grove said.
“He took a liking to Hayden and heard his voice, and [Hayden Grove] kind of owes [his career] to Mike [Petrone], because he said, ‘You know, you need to keep going with this,’” Karen Grove said.
Petrone said he distinctly remembers meeting Hayden Grove at Johnny’s Downtown, an Italian restaurant he plays at in Cleveland.
That night, Hayden Grove sang a few songs, giving him and Petrone a chance to get to know each other. Almost immediately, Petrone said he knew Hayden Grove was special
“I mean, plenty of people have beautiful voices, right?” Petrone said. “But do they understand how to deliver a song? Do they have a repertoire of songs? And he had all of that.”
Essentially, Hayden Grove said that Petrone’s praise and encouragement reignited his passion for pursuing music.
“To have him ignite that passion, it certainly lit a fire under me to really start to pursue it again,” Hayden Grove said. “It took a little while; slowly but surely, I got to performing — you know, just [a] little here and there — and then soon enough, it became bigger and bigger, and it still grows to this day.”
From there, Hayden Grove’s revamped music career gained more traction after Bublé gave him a shoutout at his Sept. 1, 2022 concert in Pittsburgh, Karen Grove said.
“[Bublé] was at a concert and called [Hayden Grove] out in front of, what, 30,000 people,” Karen Grove said. “And, you know, [Hayden Grove] was just dumbfounded and [Bublé] said, ‘I see this guy in the audience; you should follow him on TikTok,’” Karen Grove said.
Hayden Grove said since then, he’s had an amazing relationship with Bublé.
“I just can assure you that [Bublé] has been a wonderful, wonderful mentor, role model, friend, all that good stuff,” Hayden Grove said. “He’s been incredible to me, and I’m so grateful.”
Eventually, Hayden Grove was given the opportunity to audition for “The Voice” and earned a spot on Levine’s team. When he flew back for the battle rounds to face his teammate, Lucia Flores-Wiseman, he knew he would give it his all.
“To work with [Flores-Wiseman] was amazing,” Hayden Grove said. “She’s just an incredible, incredible artist, and she’s a really kind person, so that was a blessing in and of itself.”
Flores-Wiseman and Hayden Grove sang “My Funny Valentine” by Frank Sinatra in their battle, which to Grove, didn’t truly feel like a battle at all.
“I get it’s the battle round, but our goal was to sing together and to make it beautiful,” Hayden Grove said. “It wasn’t about competition for us. It was about making the best possible version and best possible duet of the song that we could.”
Levine ultimately picked Flores-Wiseman to continue on the show with him. When Hayden Grove returned to his hotel, he said he felt a flurry of mixed emotions.
“I was pretty upset for about 30 minutes,” Hayden Grove said. “It was not so much that I lost, it was just the fact that it was over, you know, like, the fact that I just really wanted one more round.”
After those 30 minutes, Grove said he realized how grateful he was for the experience.
“After that, it was all love, and just going in and really paying appreciation to those people who helped me out along the way, and the people who I got to know and got to become friends with,” Hayden Grove said.
For some, this might be where the story ends. But for Hayden Grove, it’s just the beginning.
Since his time on “The Voice,” Hayden Grove said he has left Cleveland.com and is now pursuing music full time, recording and performing three to four times every week.
“My schedule for this year is completely filled until probably January, so I’m going to do a lot of singing, and I view all these gigs as opportunities to practice and get better,” Hayden Grove said. “So, yeah, working on recording stuff, and then working on continuing to get better as a vocalist.”
This story was updated with a correction on March 28, 2025 to change University of Miami of Ohio to University of Miami in Florida and to change “a semester and a half” to “a year.”
