Berklee Alum Aliyah Khaylyn Wows The Voice Coaches with Tamar Braxton Song
Image courtesy of Tyler Golden/NBC
Spoilers for The Voice season 26, episode 6: Blind Auditions Part 6.
Berklee alumni are infiltrating more teams on this season of The Voice. Aliyah Khaylyn ’24 showcased her talent on this week’s episode of blind auditions with her rendition of Tamar Braxton’s “Love and War.”
The 23-year-old Philadelphia native wowed the coaches with her performance, getting three of them to turn their chairs. The holdout, Gwen Stefani, said she wished she could have, but her team was already full.
Watch Khaylyn's blind audition on The Voice:
“It’s not just about having a voice,” Michael Bublé said. “It’s about you having the ability to come out here and just have light shine out of you."
“I wish I could sing like you,” he told her.
“You have the voice of an angel,” Reba McEntire said. “I turned for you because I heard something magical, wonderful, soulful, spiritual. I would love for you to be on my team.”
Khaylyn chose Team Bublé, and the crooner praised her as the total package.
Even Braxton herself was impressed, reposting the clip to her Instagram and TikTok. "Not too many times do I cry but yesterday I did," she wrote in her Instagram caption on Wednesday. "She SANG that!! And to sing MY song in a voice competition like The Voice means EVERYTHING to me."
Berklee staff and faculty also sing Khaylyn's praises. "Aliyah is a gifted artist, possessing an exceptional ability to traverse multiple musical genres with authenticity, emotional depth, and remarkable vocal technique,” says Maureen McMullan, senior concert producer. “I'm so happy to see her shine on this stage!"
"Our students are often surviving personal tragedies and trauma as they pursue their craft at Berklee. Aliyah’s quiet, steady perseverance is such an inspiration to her peers—and her teachers too!” adds Tom Baskett, assistant professor of voice and the director of the 2024 Berklee Commencement Concert. (You can watch Aliyah sing "Honey" starting at 1:53:44.)
“As she sang so powerfully at our first rehearsal for the 2024 Commencement Concert, I had to choke back tears," Baskett added. "There’s nothing more moving than a young person singing out their dreams, never giving up, whatever the obstacles."