Why did Cassadee Pope leave country music? Singer reveals the reason was "lot more than just the political aspect and being opinionated"

Renowned country music sensation Cassadee Pope recently announced her departure from the scene, citing reasons that go far beyond mere political differences and personal opinions.

The Voice winner and chart-topping artist expressed her decision in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE on May 12, 2024. Pope suggested that her "style keeps changing" and she is "evolving," adding:

"My style keeps changing. I'm evolving. I was wanting to do rock again, just sonically. So there's a lot more than just the political aspect and being opinionated. But it feels really good, and it feels like I have more support than negativity," she added.

Cassadee Blake Pope is an American pop and country singer. She was born and raised in the United States. Her significant hits include Wasting All These Tears, Let Me Go, Think Of You, and People That I Love Leave.

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Exploring Cassadee Pope's decision to leave country music

Cassadee Pope opens up about her reasons for returning to Rock music (Image via Getty))

On Sunday, May 12, 2024, in a candid conversation with PEOPLE, Pope shared that her transition from the country music genre to pop stemmed from many factors. She further revealed that with the transition, her body is "rewarding" her and suggested that when something is done that does not align with true feelings, her well-being gets affected —

"I feel like my body is rewarding me. I feel like sometimes when you're pretending for so long, and you don't realize it, the body kind of starts to shut down and let you know in weird ways, and you get sick or things happen, and you're just like, Why am I all of a sudden shutting down and I just feel healthy [now]?"

The artist further expressed that she feels "good," positive, and clear-minded, adding that transitioning to pop music feels like she can be "authentically" herself across music —

"I feel good. I feel clarity. I feel like I really can just be authentically me across the board, style, opinions, lyrics, everything."

Cassadee Pope started her career in 2008 with Hey Monday, a pop band, where she was a lead vocalist and songwriter. She released one studio album and two extended plays with the band. However, in 2012, she embarked on a solo career journey with country music. In 2022, she returned from country music to pop music.

The transition reportedly occurred due to the backlash and criticism she faced for her vocal stance against intolerance, as disclosed in an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this year. In 2021, Pope confronted Morgan Wallen for using "n*gga" in country music and said that his behavior does not represent country music.

Morgan Wallen was not the sole artist Pope confronted. Others included Jason Aldean and his wife Brittany Aldean. As per US Magazine, in 2022, the Voice winner called out Brittany for her prejudiced remarks against the trans community.

In 2023, in an episode of the Hold My Hair? podcast, Cassadee Pope suggested that if she sees something that could be harmful to the community, she will speak about it.

In a February interview with Rolling Stone, Pope revealed the reason for her transition from country music, suggesting that if she continues with the genre, implicitly, she is supporting the problematic statements within it —

"If this is a genre that I absolutely can't let go of, I'm just kind of being complicit."

Cassadee Pope further acknowledged that every "genre has problematic people" in it, but said that she feels that the rock genre is in her "bones more" —

"I realize every genre has problematic people in it. I'm not saying there's not a frontman in a band who hasn't been accused of something in rock music. But I guess rock is in my bones more. You're not completely ostracized and shamed for speaking out."

After leaving country music in 2022, Cassadee Pope released many rock songs, including People That I Love Leave and Almost There, in 2023. Most recently, she released Eye Contact on March 22, 2024.