Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Aliyah Khaylyn of The Voice Season 26

Season 26 begins Monday, Sept. 23 with the coaching quartet of Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, Michael Buble and Snoop Dog.

Here’s more about Aliyah.

* Her full name is Aliyah Khaylyn Taylor and she’s from the West Philly area.

* She graduated from the Berklee College of Music with a bachelor’s degree in professional music in May.

* Head to Aliyah’s Instagram page and you can check out snippets of some of her performances at Berklee, including a Jazmine Sullivan show, a Soul Jam performance and the 2024 Music Commencement Concert.

* In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Aliyah says her mother discovered her singing ability when she was very young.

* She started performing in church at age 6, loved it, and made her first public non-church performance at age 12, backed by a band, at a Warmdaddy’s restaurant in Philly.

* That’s the same year she was selected to sing “American the Beautiful” at the U.S. Open, a performance you can check out on her YouTube channel.

* Other pre-college highlights includes winning Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in New York and getting a chance to perform in front of Patti LaBelle, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

* Aliyah added that she grew up in a musical family;almost everyone either sang or played an instrument.

* In the summer of 2019, she was one of about 90 students selected to attend Aspire, a five-week music program at Berklee. At the end of the program, she was one of nine students presented with a full, four-year scholarship.

* Aliyah says that meant she got to attend her “dream school,” something she could not have afforded without the scholarship.

* Still, she’s had to overcome some obstacles, including the passing of her mother, “the sun of my world.” Aliyah wrote on Instagram: “I made a tough decision to continue my education. To prove to myself and my mother that I would never give up, to continue a legacy of greatness. God allowed me to keep my sanity, my peace, my essence, my purpose, my joy, my passion, my love, my compassion, my ambition, my grace, and my LIGHT!”

Aliyah on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube

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