Loren Allred remembers buying rapper Wiz Khalifa’s mixtape directly from him off the street.
“I was in middle school,” she says, “and I remember the cover and his song ‘Prince of the City,’ because it was my MySpace page song for many years. He was hustling, and it was really cool,” she adds. Now the same could be said for this Pittsburgh native, who’s making a name for herself in the music industry after early years filled with competition shows and behind-the-scenes work.
“I was on The Voice when I was 21, and I feel like I wasn’t ready for the pressure at the time,” Allred, now 34, tells Pittsburgh City Paper. She was a contestant on season three of the NBC show and selected Maroon 5’s Adam Levine as her coach. She was eliminated after the first week of live playoffs and tied for 13th place.
Allred then decided to take a break from the music industry and got more involved in demo singing, which led her to an opportunity with writers from the 2017 movie The Greatest Showman.
“That kind of put my voice back into the public, which I felt was a unique situation,” she tells City Paper. “It wasn’t something I had expected would happen.”
Allred was cast as the singing voice of actress Rebecca Ferguson’s character, belting the famous song “Never Enough,” which was part of the movie’s platinum-selling soundtrack.
In 2022, Allred auditioned for the 15th season of Britain’s Got Talent, where she performed the song. Judge and showrunner Simon Cowell asked why Allred never got a big record deal after the song. She explained that she was more comfortable behind the scenes but was now ready to put a face to the song.
With her debut album forthcoming, her face is poised to be recognized everywhere. Still, Allred’s roots — both familial and musical — are in Pittsburgh. She was born at Allegheny General Hospital and grew up on the North Side, near Riverview Park. She reminisced about growing up in the city, going to Blue Slide Park as a child.
“I laid on my stomach to go down the slide with no cardboard,” she laughs. “It ripped up my whole stomach and my mom had to put a million band-aids on it.”
Allred later heard the late rapper and Pittsburgh native Mac Miller’s 2011 debut album Blue Slide Park and was excited to see a Pittsburgher coming up in the music industry.
Allred also remembers going to work at Duquesne University, where her dad worked as director of choral studies. She took her first piano lessons from Duquesne students in the practice rooms at the university.
Allred’s father, Brady, was also director of the Pittsburgh Bach Choir until the family moved to Salt Lake City. He is now artistic director and conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists. Her mother, Carol Ann, is a classical soprano and voice teacher. Allred fondly remembers her parents performing together often at places like Heinz Hall, with her mother soloing with her father’s choir often.
Allred was delighted to get a call from him asking for her to sing for a playoff game.
This past January, Allred was a contestant on Cowell’s team for AGT: Fantasy League, a sort of tournament-style show where Cowell invites former contestants of the franchise to compete.
“Simon called me and said he wanted me to be on his dream team and we’d be able to tell my story here in the U.S.” Allred says.
It was Cowell’s idea for Allred to sing “Never Enough” once again for the initial Fantasy League audition. They ended up putting a fresh spin on it, adding a key change with Allred singing the highest she’s ever sung the song live. It paid off, and she made it through to the first semi-final of the competition. She was ultimately eliminated but was invited to come back to sing for the February 19 finale intro.
“I really feel that it was the right decision for me to come and tell my story in the U.S.” Allred says. “I’ve felt the support and recognition like a tsunami wave coming toward me, I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
As far as what’s next, Allred just recorded her own version of “Never Enough” because she wasn’t allowed to record it until five years after The Greatest Showman was released.
“I almost took a tip from Taylor Swift and recorded ‘Never Enough’ (Lauren’s version),” she tells CP, which will also include a music video.
Allred also recorded her AGT: Fantasy League semi-final song, “Over the Rainbow” with live strings. An album with songs that she recorded that ended up on other artist’s albums, as well as some covers of The Greatest Showman songs with her own spin on them, is coming out soon.
For any aspiring musicians, Allred has some advice: “You could be the most talented person in the world, but unless you’re putting yourself out there, the world won’t be able to give you opportunities. Once you’re able to face that fear, it gets to be less and less, so I’m a big fan of exposure therapy!”
