COURTNEY HADWIN RELEASES THE NEW SINGLE ‘SPELLBOUND’ & DROPS BY AATR FOR A QUICK CHAT
21st February 2025There are some voices that genuinely make you stop in your tracks – and Courtney Hadwin is one of them.
Seven years after her unforgettable ‘America’s Got Talent’ audition in which she blew away the judges with her take on ‘Hard To Handle’, 20-year-old Courtney now announces she will release her long-awaited debut album later this year.
She takes time out of her busy schedule to have a chat with us about her new single ‘Spellbound’
Your single ‘Spellbound’ is out today, are you excited about this?I’m actually freaking out!! Excited is an understatement I can’t wait for the world to have this song!!!
Check it out HERE
How do you think this will be received by your fans, do you think it will go down well?
I’m hoping people love it as much as me. As soon as we wrote this song I fell in love with it and I hope people take this song and relate and vibe with it just as much!
You are still going strong 7 years after your ‘Americas Got Talent’ audition, do you ever regret doing this?
I wouldn’t say regret! Definitely not! I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for America’s got talent. It put me in a place and gave me a platform where I can do what I love for a living and have people follow and support me and I get to write and have an impact on someone’s life every day with my music. I would say It’s just a little harder to show people I’m not just that little girl from a TV talent contest I’m an artist and a musician and I’ve grown up a lot since then!
It must have been nerve-wracking putting yourself in the spotlight in front of millions of viewers, as these types of shows can either make you or break you. Oh wow yes, it was so nerve-wracking! I would say the best experience was probably that first audition and the impact it had I really didn’t expect it! Being that age and having all of these people resonating with me and appreciating me was just surreal! I was really young and had a hard time with people not wanting me to be myself and it really helped to know people loved me for who I was and having people message me telling me I’ve helped them and proven to them they don’t need to hide who they are!
You smashed the show as well and all your performances were incredible.
What was your best and worst experience on the show?
The worst experience of the show was maybe the amount of hate I received online! Being out in that big of a spotlight and not being a stereotypical pop singer that people are used to definitely generated some online trolls that I wasn’t used of and being very young that was hard to deal with and something I’ve had to learn to deal with as I’ve gotten older. I think I’ve received the worst comments I could possibly get now I don’t think I could get any worse than that (laughs)
Can you tell us a little about the production for your new single ‘Spellbound’, and how this went for you?
Spellbound wasn’t supposed to be on the album AT ALL! The full album was written and I went to Minneapolis in America and we recorded the full album there I had 2-3 days left at the end of my trip before I had to fly back home so we decided let’s mess around with some beats and guitar riffs and Kevin started playing this one really cool riff on the guitar and I was like you need to record that in, so he did. At the time back home I was going through a weird kind of “situationship” and I started jotting down lyrics about how I was feeling about all of this and before we knew it I was recording Melodie’s into my voice notes and we had a song so we recorded it all in and I went home and forgot all about it. Then I got a message from Kevin “Remember that song we wrote well listen to this” Our minds were blown and we instantly fell in love and knew it had to be the first single!
Since your appearance on America’s Got Talent, has it been easier for you to secure gigs? Or is it one of those cases where everything is great for a while then things begin to slow down?
It is honestly one of them things where it’s all great and you have the world in your hands and then it’s just taken away from you and slows all the way down. When people say it’s your 15 minutes of fame it literally is, so it does mean you have to fight a lot harder for what you want. I’ve always been a hard worker though and if I want something I fight and work as hard as I can til I achieve it!
If you could go back and do it all again, would you?
I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason! Obviously some things that have happened on my musical journey have really sucked! like really sucked ass! But I’ve met people and worked with people who I wouldn’t have met before for example producer Kevin Bowe we never would have crossed paths and made this album if it all didn’t happen. I’ve also created and written music that I might not have been able to create before without having some bad experiences.
Would you do the same song, or would you choose a different one?
Everything I would have done the same I think! Everyone seems to think I did a Janis Joplin song anyway haha they always get it mixed up but yeah I wouldn’t change anything at all.
What’s next for you musically?
So my first single of the album comes out Feb 21 and my album which the release date hasn’t been released yet it is coming this year. I honestly am just so excited to finally tell my story of where I have been for so long I have grown up from 14 years old to 20 years old writing this album so I’ve kinda grown with the album and I think the music definitely shows that!
Any plans to tour? If so where would you most like to go?
I would love to tour and am working on putting some dates together as we speak. I love traveling so much, I love being in different countries trying new foods, and just experiencing different cultures. I would love to visit Australia that’s definitely on my bucket list but as long as there’s a mic I’ll happily travel anywhere to sing and perform it’s what I most love to do!
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
I think Teddy Swims would be so cool. I love how much soul that man has! I get goosebumps every time I hear him sing and I love how he’s brought his roots and soul to this generation of music and shown people what real music sounds like. That dude can really sing!
Curveball Question
Are you team Elphaba or team Glinda?
I’ve actually not seen it yet! People are gonna hate me for saying that but I just haven’t got around to it and I’ve heard it’s nearly a 3-hour movie I’m not very good at keeping still and focused for that long
