D.C. native Owen Danoff turned heads -- and all four chairs -- during a heart-tugging performance on NBC's "The Voice" this week.
The singer-songwriter, 25, has deep personal and family ties to the D.C. music scene, and it took mere seconds for three of the judges to face Danoff after he began his performance of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."
Pharrell Williams, Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine nearly immediately turned to face Danoff, indicating they'd like to work with him. Blake Shelton appeared to be the lone holdout at first, but later into the performance, he too turned his chair.
"You were just so involved with what you were doing, and so meaningful," Aguilera told Danoff. "...I do know the place that you're coming from, and I think music is music, no matter what genre it is. If you feel it with your heart, then it speaks to the world."
At first, Danoff modestly told the judges that he'd grown up "in a musical family" and his dad is a musician -- but the real story is actually a whole lot more impressive.
"He is a songwriter also. He had a band in the '70s that won a couple Grammys and stuff," Danoff told the judges. Then he dropped the name of the group: Starland Vocal Band.
"'Afternoon Delight'?" asked judge Blake Shelton. "Whoa!"
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Turns out Owen's dad is singer-songwriter Bill Danoff, who formed the group famous for its #1 hit "Afternoon Delight" in 1976, according to NPR.
Bill Danoff also wrote numerous hits for John Denver, including "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which helped launch Denver to fame. Danoff first shared the song with Denver in his D.C. apartment when Denver was passing through town, NPR previously reported.
Owen Danoff now lives in New York, but he grew up in the area and has performed at nearly every major DMV music venue, including the 9:30 Club and the Birchmere, according to the bio on his website. He's also nabbed three Washington Area Music Awards and was selected as a Strathmore Artist in Residence, his site said.
While all four "Voice" judges were eager to work with him, Danoff ultimately decided to go with Levine.
"You, Owen, have a very strong identity, very heart-breaking and crushing and sensitive, and that is a very difficult combination of things to exist in one person," Levine told Danoff before he made his pick.
