Kat Perkins

Kat Perkins was born and raised in Scranton, North Dakota.^[2] She is the daughter of Mark Perkins, a music teacher, and Gayle Perkins, an organist.^[8] As a child, Kat Perkins sang harmonies with her sister Kelly and took piano lessons.^[2] She began performing professionally at the age of fifteen.^[9]

In 1999, Perkins graduated from high school and joined the Medora Musical, a musical production performed in North Dakota.^[2] She moved to Twin Cities, Minnesota to attend cosmetology school, where she began working in Hey City Theater Productions.^[2]

Perkins fronted Scarlet Haze, a band from Twin Cities, Minnesota.^[1][10] In 2005, the band opened for Bon Jovi at the Target Center in Minneapolis.^[1][5] Perkins had surgery on her vocal cords, which resulted in a three-year hiatus from her singing career.^[1] She began working as a full-time nanny for a family with five children in Twin Cities^[1][5] During her off time, Perkins traveled to the Middle East with other musicians to entertain American military troops in 2013.^[11]

Perkins was chosen to audition for The Voice season 6 in Los Angeles, California, after producers saw a video of her singing Adele's "Someone Like You" on YouTube.^[8][10] In October 2013, Perkins was selected for The Voice's blind auditions.^[8] Perkins performed "Gold Dust Woman" at the television show's blind audition, and received interest from three judges.^[10][12] She chose Adam Levine as her coach, who led her to the semi-finals.^[10][13] Perkins was saved from elimination twice by audience votes via Twitter, before being eliminated from The Voice in May 2014.^[14] Perkins was part of the most tweeted-about moment in history of a television show.^[15]

In August 2014, Perkins released her first single, "Fearless".^[7][10][12] The week following the single's release, "Fearless" placed in the top five on iTunes rock chart.^[12] "Fearless" also qualified for the first round of the Grammy Awards "Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance" competition.^[16] Her experience on The Voice inspired Perkins to write the song.^[11] In September 2014, Perkins and EduTech partnered with the "Positive Social Media Tour" to visit schools across the United States to discuss social media with students and give a live performance.^[17][18] Perkins began touring her single and songs from The Voice in October 2014.^[11] That month, she sang the national anthem at a Minnesota Vikings football game.^[16] Since 2022, she is a backing vocalist for Kid Rock's Twisted Brown Trucker Band.^[19]