Photo By Cpl. Darien Wright | Michael Huntley, an American blues rock singer-songwriter and winner of The Voice's...... read more read more
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MARINE COPRS BASE QUANTICO, Va.— Season 24 winner of The Voice, Michael Huntley (A.K.A. Huntley), performed at MCB Quantico’s Independence Day celebration, at Lejeune Field on base, July 3.
The American blues rock singer-songwriter explained he wanted to perform on MCB Quantico because the base supported his family when he was younger and wanted to give back to military members and their families.
“It is kind of actually a full-circle moment,” he explained.
Huntley, a Fredericksburg, Virginia native, grew up in a single-mother home, and explained his mother searched for ways to improve their lives.
“We were struggling … probably some of the hardest times of my life,” Huntley admitted.
His mother ended up buying a few food stands to begin a hotdog cart business and searched for work—MCB Quantico was some of the first contracts she gained.
“… that literally turned our whole lives around,” he said. “I mean, she was able to start a whole six-figure business from it.”
Now, Huntley’s performance stage—ironically—was set up at the same location his mother had sold food from her carts.
“I would have never thought I was going to be playing a concert here,” he said. “I was a 14-year-old-kid working a hotdog cart trying to figure out what I wanted to be.”
His connection to Quantico extends beyond the hotdog carts, though.
Huntley explained growing up in the area, he was always around service members, at one time even building the rope bridges as a contractor for Officer Candidates School. In another tie, his significant other’s father served as a Marine on Quantico.
“Quantico is like the Chesapeake Bay,” he explained. “You have all these other little water outlets, connecting people from different communities. When you get an area like this, it's just so intertwined.”
Huntley discussed he is a patriot down to his core, and he couldn’t imagine the sacrifice military families make to serve—though admitted he can empathize through his own experience as an on-the-road performer. While he was on The Voice, he was separated from his child who didn’t speak clearly, only to come back home shocked by how verbal his child was.
“I came home to my two-year-old speaking in full sentences, and it just gave me a whole different perspective of the sacrifice that service members make,” he said, alluding to the times military families are separated due to deployments. “… the weight of that falls on their significant others and families as well.”
Huntley said the least he can do for the military community is come out to perform concerts like this one to get people out of the house, enjoy something different, and give families some breaks.
The entire lawn of Lejeune Field was packed with past and current service members, their families, and friends. The Independence Day celebration hosted a multitude of outdoor activities for families, friends and service members to include bouncy house obstacle courses, a rock climbing wall, and games such as corn hole; most notable of activities was Huntley's performance, though.
He explained that he would like to continue doing things for Marines, their families, and those on MCB Quantico.
“Oh yeah,” he said before ending the interview. “I just wanted to say how excited I am that, you know, this is the 250th year [for the Marine Corps]. You guys are the best!”
| Date Taken: | 07.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.04.2025 16:17 |
| Story ID: | 542079 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 137 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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