‘The Voice’ singer dead by suicide at 44

Ryan Whyte Maloney, a former contestant on “The Voice,” has died. He was 44.

The Clark County (Las Vegas) coroner confirmed the singer’s death Tuesday and ruled the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head.

Whyte Maloney posted a video of himself in a bar saying, “Nine fine Irishmen for a private party tonight, and we will be rocking,” to his Instagram story Monday. The video is now expired, as Instagram stories do after 24 hours.

The singer appeared on season six of “The Voice” in 2014 as a member of Blake Shelton’s team. He made it through two battle rounds and became one of Shelton’s top 5 finalists and returned for the season finale.

He recorded his rendition of classics like Journey’s “Lights,” Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” Rascal Flatts’ “Easy” and Shinedown’s “Second Chance,” while on the show.

The Michigan native played the guitar, violin, cello, and drums while growing up and became lead singer of a prog-rock band called Indulge and released the album “Tomorrow‘s Another Day” in 2005. He began a solo career after touring with the band for a decade.

His songs “Hillbilly,” “Michigan Moonlight” and “Living with No Directions” received country radio play throughout Michigan, Nevada, Colorado and California.

Throughout his career, the vocalist performed alongside acts like Tim McGraw, Morgan Wallen, Rascal Flatts, Usher, Ed Sheeran and more. He also held a residency at Shelton’s venue Ole Red bar in Nashville.

Editor’s note: NJ Advance Media typically limits reporting on suicides to those that occur in crowded public places, involve public figures or, in special circumstances, where there is a larger public impact. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors can be reduced with the proper mental health support and treatment. If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

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Christopher Burch can be reached at cburch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SwishBurch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips