Watch DREION's Electrifying 'Shining Star' Blind Audition on The Voice
Griffin Nagel/NBC
Spoilers for The Voice season 26, episode 3: Blind Auditions Part 2.
Season 26 of The Voice is off to a dynamic start. Snoop Dogg joins as the newest coach, fresh off his iconic run commentating for NBC at the Paris Olympics. He even entered the studio this week with a mariachi band playing “El Rey” (“The King”).
For the second week of blind auditions, DREION BM ’20 kicked off the episode with an electrifying version of “Shining Star” by Earth Wind & Fire. It’s fitting, as he has opened for the legendary group on tour.
“It’s an incredible experience to work with these legends,” he said of Earth Wind & Fire. “The way your staging should look, your lighting, your sound. It makes me have to step up my game.”
He originally connected with the band through volunteering with Music Is Unity, lead singer Philip Bailey’s foundation for youth in foster care. DREION, a former foster youth himself, shared his story on the episode.
“I was placed in five different foster homes, and experienced severe abuse from other kids,” he said. “The only things I had during that time were God and music.”
The Omaha, Nebraska, native wowed all the coaches with his performance, getting a coveted four-chair turn and even a standing ovation. He grabbed their attention from the jump with a “hit me!” getting an instant reaction from Michael Bublé, who turned his chair first. Snoop and Reba followed soon after, with Gwen Stefani waiting until the second verse to turn.
“It’s rare to have someone who can sing and has a stage aura like you do. That takes years,” Stefani said. “When you hit that falsetto, that was beautiful,” added Bublé. All four coaches put up a fight to win DREION to their teams, but he ultimately picked “Uncle Snoop.”
“That was like a Super Bowl win for me,” said Snoop.
His star power was evident on the Berklee campus, too. “DREION is the real deal—a consummate professional and a multifaceted artist who began his journey at Berklee, already equipped with immense musical talent and a desire to grow,” says Maureen McMullan, senior concert producer. “Singer-songwriter, pianist, dancer, bandleader, and entrepreneur. Despite his impressive abilities, he remains humble, open-minded, and dedicated.”
In 2019, he and his band went viral for a James Brown song that got over 1.2 million views. DREION also performed at Berklee’s annual gala in 2020, on the bill with Steve Winwood, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and Jackson Browne.
“He is the only student I can remember to lead a sold-out Berklee Performance Center concert under his artistic name while he was a student,” says Michael Borgida, director of concert and video production for Berklee. “He is a professional who knows how to put on a show!”
Says McMullan: “DREION genuinely deserves all the success that comes his way.”