'The Voice' Pays Tribute to Contestant Who Died
The first live results show of The Voice Season 15 wasn’t without its controversies, as fans tweeted angrily about ridiculous team quotas and the unfair fast-tracking of an online-competition “Comeback Stage” contestant. But there was one thing all viewers could agree on: The tribute to Season 1 top four contestant Beverly McClellan, who died on Oct. 30 from endometrial cancer at age 49, was deeply touching.
“We want to remember a special person in the Voice family,” host Carson Daly announced somberly. “Finalist Beverly McClellan blew us away with her powerful voice on our first season of the show. Unfortunately, she lost her battle with cancer -- a brave battle at that -- just two weeks ago. We want to take a second to remember her infectious spirit and her undeniable talent. Beverly, we love you so much.”
When The Voice debuted way back in 2011, Beverly represented what the show was supposed to be all about. An out lesbian, over age 40, who rocked a shaved head, kilts, and multiple tattoos, Beverly did not look like the sort of cookie-cutter pop star that could have ever landed a major-label record deal under normal circumstances. (Prior to auditioning for the show, she had released five independent albums.) But man, could this Tennessee lady sing.
“People, they’re not always what they look like. It’s not what they look like; it’s what’s inside,” Beverly later told Yahoo Entertainment when marveling over how Voice voters had enthusiastically embraced her. “And I think America got that loud and clear when it came to me. I just stayed true to me, and that meant everything.”
Beverly’s fiery, fearless “Piece of My Heart” Blind Audition turned chairs for Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera at the time, and she ended up proudly representing Team Xtina in the first Voice finale. (“I thought as a female in the industry since 9 years old, if anybody had anything to teach me, it would be [Christina],” Beverly later explained in her Yahoo interview.) In Season 1’s finale week, Beverly truly embodied the meaning of Christina’s empowerment anthem “Beautiful” during their contestant/coach duet; seven years later, that duet remains one of the loveliest moments in Voice history. Speaking to Yahoo about that experience, Beverly later said, “Sitting there with [Christina] singing the song -- with Linda Perry, the original writer of the song -- that’s what the dreams are about, right there.”
Beverly’s sixth and final album, Fear Nothing, was independently released shortly after her Voice season, at which time she told Yahoo, “The train is taking off. It’s just a matter of I gotta stay on it and keep going -- because it’s been a real good ride.” Rest in power, Beverly McClellan. You were a reality TV trailblazer.
