In less than a year, Lucas Holliday has gone from working as a cashier at Dollar General to singing with Jennifer Hudson on the season 13 premiere of NBC's "The Voice."

"Singing is the one thing I'm good at," he said.

It started with an impromptu video of Holliday singing Maxwell's 1996 neo soul hit, "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" from behind a cash register at the Dollar General off South Martin Luther King Boulevard in Lansing last November.

The video went viral, receiving over 1 million views during its first week.

Then, Holliday appeared on "Good Morning America," where he accepted an invitation to perform with Maxwell at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

"Without the video or Maxwell's endorsement, I'd still love music the way I do, but my mindset is different," Holliday said. "When you see the possibilities that lie ahead, it inspires you to just keep pushing forward."

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Dozens of calls and offers poured in following his performance with Maxwell. None of them were appealing enough to take that next step.

"I'm willing to compromise on certain things, but I felt like they didn't really understand my agenda as an artist," he said.

Lucky for Lansing's singing cashier, the producers over at NBC were watching.

On Sept. 25, the 26-year-old Everett High School graduate appeared on "The Voice" and performed Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work."

With only a few seconds of the audition remaining, former "American Idol" contestant Jennifer Hudson was the only coach to turn around.

Holliday's mother, Lori, was backstage rooting for him that night.

"(Lucas) has been singing since he was able to talk," she said. "It comes naturally for him."

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Hudson's jaw dropped when she turned around and saw Holliday for the first time and realized he was white.

"I wasn't super surprised that (Jennifer) was surprised," he said.

He's thrilled to have secured a spot on Team Jennifer, he added.

"Jennifer is a powerhouse and she's a force to be reckoned with for real," he said.

Those who follow Lansing's music scene closely will probably recognize Holliday as one of the lead vocalists from the band, Tell Yo Mama. They describe themselves as Lansing's "soulful, funky, groove machine."

Tell Yo Mama's drummer Ray Crane has worked alongside Holliday since 2014, but they actually met six years ago while taking a music class at Lansing Community College.

Crane said he was "amazed" when Holliday told him he was set to appear on "The Voice."

"(Lucas) is a pretty talented guy," he said. "He's real humble, and he's got this old-school thing going on."

Holliday might be known for his soulful voice, but Crane says he also does a "spot-on" impression of comedians Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy.

"We're always reciting lines from 'The Sopranos' in between rehearsals," Crane said. "No one else thinks it's funny except for us."

Holliday sees "The Voice" as an opportunity for Tell Yo Mama to gain exposure.

"We've been pushing forward and loving what we do, but there's something about being on a stage of that magnitude performing in front of thousands of people," Holliday said.

"Whatever happens from here on out, (my bandmates) are like, 'Do it.' "

Lori Holliday was "thrilled" when she learned her son would appear on "The Voice," but says she "always knew he had it in him."

At 5 years old, he performed in a talent show at Lyons Elementary School. He sang Del Shannon's 1961 hit, "Runaway."

"He nailed it," Lori said.

Her son works "very hard" to master his craft, she said.

"(Music) is my therapy," Lucas Holliday said, "and it's something that's always been there for me when I maybe felt the most lonely or like I didn't fit in."

The viral video and Maxwell's invitation couldn't have happened at a better time, Holliday said, adding that "things were starting to weigh on me."

In 2012, Holliday's father, Brant, died after months of trying to fight off methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. He contracted the infection after undergoing a colectomy to remove a "benign but obstructive" tumor.

"We were extremely close," Holliday said.

Holliday said his father was a "tough but tender" parent, the "rock and foundation of the family, the constant."

"He was my biggest fan," he said. "I miss him every day."

Singing is a way to follow in his father's footsteps and to cherish his memory, Holliday said.

After surviving the blind auditions, Holliday will move on and compete in the battle rounds. Each coach chooses two members from his or her team to perform a duet together. One contestant is selected to advance in the competition.

"My greatest hope for Lucas is that he does his best," Lori said.

"If nothing else happens, at least I can say I sang with an Oscar winner," Holliday joked.

Immediately after the blind audition, Holliday was joined on stage by Hudson and together they sang a snippet of Hillsong Worship's "God is Able."

Holliday said his experience on "The Voice" helped him understand that "anything is possible, but you can't wait for things to happen."

He plans to pursue singing as a full-time career and to "move people in a way that they aren't being moved right now in today's state of music."

If he were crowned the winner of "The Voice," it would be a "great gift" to his mother that she "really deserves" and has been "waiting for her whole life," he said.

Until then?

"Everyone I know is 100 percent behind me," he said, "and I'm getting a lot of love."

Contact Princess Gabbara at pgabbara@lsj.com or (517) 377-1006. Follow her on Twitter at @PrincessGabbara.

Watch

Season 13 of "The Voice" airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on WILX.