Watch the Stunning Four-Chair Turn That Made John Legend Block Niall Horan on 'The Voice'
Night three of The Voice Season 24 Blind Auditions had four four-chair turns, but one that really touched our hearts was 34-year-old Stee, originally from Washington, D.C. who now lives in Bluffton, S.C.
Stee comes from a musical family—his father is a musician and his mother is a vocalist. He never wanted to be compared to them, so he actually wanted to be an engineer until he found out he needed to be good at math. Instead, he started a band with his sister and best friend, so this is the first time he’s performing solo.
He auditioned for coaches Reba McEntire, John Legend, Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani with Maroon Five’s “Sugar.”
His performance was so impressive that all four coaches turned but John really wanted Stee on his team, so when he turned—and he turned before Niall—he hit his Block button.
“You’ve got a great shot at this one,” John teased Niall when Stee was finished singing and Niall saw that he had been blocked.
“He really wanted this one,” Gwen told John. “I'm sitting next to him, and I was watching him, and he was thinking of blocking.”
Even so, Reba was the first one to pitch. She said, “We have a little competition going on here and it looks like somebody got blocked. Almost all of us are competing for you. You did a great job. Song selection was wonderful, loved your dance moves, everything, you’ve got the whole package. This is not your first rodeo. How long have you been singing professionally?”
Stee replied, “Professionally since I’m 14 years old. We have a band, my sister and best friend.”
“This makes me so upset,” Niall jumped in.
“Life isn’t always going to be easy for you, Niall,” John said. “We all have adversity, we all have challenges, and we all get blocked."
“You’ve got a vendetta against me,” Niall responded. Then he told Stee, “Anyone that takes on an Adam Levine song is brave in my eyes because that's one hell of a voice he's got. You absolutely matched up there. It was so good. I don't have a chance here, obviously, but I'll steal you at some point.”
Then it was Gwen’s turn. She said, “That was incredible. When someone can have their head voice be as strong as their chest voice and do the runs within that, it's just so cool to me. More than anything, I loved your character, that uplifting heart that you have, your energy. I was in a band all those years and I feel like I could work well with you to be able to transition you from being in the group and now here you are on your own. So, I'd love to work with you. You're so gifted. I'm Gwen Stefani if you want to be on my team.”
Related: Watch John Legend Try to Seal the Deal and Steal a Four-Chair Turn on The Voice With a Song
It looked as if Gwen might have a shot, but then here’s what happened with John and Stee:
“Look at you, you’ve got four coaches turning for you, three of whom have a chance and, honestly, we all loved you," John said. "Singing a song sung by Adam Levine is a challenge because he's one of our more gifted pop singers in the world. He actually sat in this chair and the fact that you convinced all of us you could pull off an Adam Levine song it's pretty amazing.”
Then Stee told John that he had a story to tell him about his cousin and John.
Stee said, “I had a cousin. His name was Matthew, and he was your biggest fan. He's supposed to be here tonight, but he passed away three weeks before we got here, and so I've dedicated this entire thing to him. He's supposed to be backstage, and I'm supposed to say, ‘John, I want to introduce you to my cousin Matthew.’ I just want to say thank you so much for giving so much to Matthew. You really helped him get through some tough times.”
John responded, saying, “Oh, my God. That’s powerful. We’re all so moved by you being here and the fact that you're as talented as you are, and then on top of that, seem to be such a lovely human being. We're excited to have you on the show.”
Reba added, “I'm pretty sure that Matthew’s right here with us and watching everything you're doing. So, along with Matthew, why don't you let us know which coach you’re going to pick?
Was there any doubt? Stee went with John Legend.
The Voice airs Monday and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Next, The Voice Reveals Coaches for Season 25—And There’s an Exciting Twist!