They Said No. The Voice Got It Wrong on These Three Country Stars.

Every season, thousands of hopeful singers line up for a shot at The Voice, America's Got Talent, and American Idol. Producers watch the auditions, pick their favorites, and send the rest home. Sometimes they get it spectacularly wrong. Here are three country stars the shows turned away and later had to call back as headliners.

Maren Morris: Rejected Everywhere. Now She Cashes the Check.

Maren Morris auditioned for American Idol, The Voice, America's Got Talent, and even Star Search. It was all a no. She recalled auditioning for American Idol at seventeen, getting cut before she ever saw a judge after singing for roughly eight seconds. She remembered crying on the way home with her mom.

She did not stop. After those failed auditions, she began pursuing songwriting, penning songs for Tim McGraw and Kelly Clarkson, then self-released an EP on Spotify in late 2015 that racked up 2.5 million streams in a month. Columbia Nashville offered her a record deal immediately. One Grammy Award and multiple CMA wins later, she found the perfect response to every show that passed on her. She told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, "Now people cover my songs for their auditions on those shows. So it's like, not only is it really nice to have my song on a national television show, I get to collect the check and have some sweet revenge." That is about as satisfying an ending as you can write. Explore her full story with this video biography.

Luke Combs: Too Boring for TV. Too Dominant for Anyone to Ignore.

Luke Combs went through several rounds of producer auditions for The Voice during spring break one year, making it as far as the final 200 hopefuls. He told producers he wanted to sing a country song. They were not interested. "I tell them I want to do a country song, and they are like, 'Oh, well, you didn't sing country before,'" he recalled. "The show is just about being a singer." He made it through that round anyway. Then came the letter.

"I got a letter back after the next audition and they told me essentially I was too boring to be on television," Combs said. "I still have the letter in storage that's like, 'You're a great singer, but…' Essentially it's about ratings, right?"

Right. The man who turned out to be too boring for television went on to become the first artist in the 56-year history of the Top Country Albums chart whose first two studio albums each spent 25 or more weeks at number one. Every single he has ever released to country radio has gone to number one. Twenty-one consecutive number ones and counting. If that letter is still in storage, it might be worth framing. Watch Luke’s video biography for more on this story.

Lainey Wilson: Seven Rejections. One Unforgettable Night on That Very Stage.

Lainey Wilson did not just get rejected by The Voice once. She auditioned for The Voice seven times and never made it to the stage where the judges would even show their interest. She was also rejected by American Idol seven times, never advancing past the first round. Fourteen total rejections from the two biggest singing competition shows on television. "I didn't even make it to the part where they turn the chair around," she said. "But hey, it just kinda lit a fire under me."

"I've known that this is my calling, and there's nothing else I want to do that I can do," Wilson told People. "I've always just been like, no plan B. This is it."

That fire led her to a camper trailer in Nashville, years of grinding, and eventually "Things a Man Oughta Know," which became one of the biggest country songs of its era. Then came the night that completed the circle. Wilson performed her single "Hang Tight Honey" on the Season 25 finale of The Voice, on the same stage that had turned her away so many times, and when she finished, Reba McEntire walked out and surprised her on live television with an invitation to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Wilson posted on social media afterward: "Somebody pinch me. I'm going to become a member of the Opry on June 7. This is the moment little Lainey dreamed about ever since her first trip to Nashville."

Seven rejections from The Voice. Zero regrets. All the details on Lainey’s grind to the top are in our video biography.

Three artists. A combined total of rejections that would have broken most people. And three of the most satisfying second acts in country music history.