Meet DREION, 'The Voice' star with impressive links to NBA legend Shaquille O'Neill
OMAHA, NEBRASKA: Originating from Omaha, Nebraska, DREION is a talented singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and performer. This skilled artist is preparing for his television debut on 'The Voice'. If DREION, who was born in Omaha, becomes a household name, he will have an impressive backstory to share. Da'Dreion Murrell, a 27-year-old who plays the drums and piano, may soon achieve major success.
The dramatization of the problems with the foster care system in the feature film 'Foster Boy' included samples from his debut EP, 'I Am Life'. Foster reform campaigner and NBA great Shaquille O'Neill is the show's presenter and producer. Though he's not quite a star yet, he's taking the proper steps. 'I Am Life' received a lot of radio airplay. The UK soul chart featured it. He has signed his first synch license agreement with a business that represents movie studios, TV networks, and commercial sponsors with his music.
As a seasoned performer, he has shared the stage and worked with many legendary acts, including J Ivy, Earth, Wind & Fire, Lalah Hathaway, Musiq Soulchild, and Bootsy Collins. The simplest way to characterize his music is to say that it is soulful, rhythmic, nostalgic, and modern with a twist.
It combines R&B, Funk, Gospel, and Inspirational genres in the style of his heroes and influences, Prince, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Kirk Franklin, and many more.
'The Voice' Season 26 star DREION's traumatic experience in foster care shaped his career in music
DREION's refuge was music, even before it was a career route. When he was born, his mother was seventeen and still enrolled in high school. She tried to raise him, but she didn't make the best choices. Growing up in a household where he saw her and some of her partners get into violent fights, DREION observed these incidents. When she disciplined him and his three siblings, she used harsh language. Though he is now free and living near DREION, his biological father was imprisoned for dealing drugs at the time and was not involved in his life. Behaving out in class started to serve as a vent for the insanity inside. Because of his actions, he was called a "troubled child."
He was taken from his mother at the age of six. At Mount View Elementary School, he ran into problems. DREION was reprimanded there by his mother. They would say she was abusive. At the school, DREION was taken away from her. Instead of going to live with his family, he was placed in foster care. It all began, he recalls, when a policeman dropped him off at the home of a strange woman. He asked if he would ever get to go home and see his mother again.
Although DREION was only in foster care for six months, he claims it didn't make the experience any less painful; in fact, it was one of the hardest things he has ever gone through. In the end, DREION resided in five separate foster homes. He suffered from physical violence and neglect. He was taking seven distinct behavioral drugs.
Furthermore, he claims that when he and his mother were not in contact, he was studied and experimented on in hospital psychiatric units to see why he misbehaved so frequently. She did not accept losing him lightly. She won DREION's return by fighting for him. Although their connection was tense at one point, he claims that his mother and he are no longer at odds and that things are now excellent.
The startling encounter made him angry. His outlet and form of treatment became music. He was first exposed to the music that shaped and healed him through a gospel-rap performer. It was his uncle Keith who introduced him to music for the first time. He released music videos and CDs. He was the first artist that DREION had a passion for.
When he got back with his mother, his uncle Keith helped him achieve stability. DREION briefly resided with him and his spouse, Lisa Mills. James Mills, the grandfather of DREION and Keith, played the holy trinity of Prince, Michael Jackson, and James Brown to help shape DREION's musical preferences. DREION wants to emulate his heroes' innovative and significant work. Stevie Wonder and gospel performers John P Kee, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Kim Burrell, and the Clark Sisters are among the other musical inspirations.
DREION has received full-cost attendance scholarships for exceptional academic success from both the Warren & Susan Buffett Scholarship and the Bill & Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship. The Berklee Urban Service Awards granted him the title of "Performer of the Year" in 2019. He gladly collaborates as an ambassador for national foster care groups, including Earth, Wind, & Fire's Music Is Unity Foundation, First Star Academy, and Mixed Roots Foundation, in order to support the needs of foster youngsters in this neglected area.
'The Voice' Season 26 star DREION was awarded 'Performer of The Year' by Berklee
Having been in the system himself, DREION contributes his skills and story to raise awareness for current foster children and system survivors like himself. All of this comes after DREION performed a live outdoor concert in Boston in 2019, playing James Brown's "Get On Up," and the video went viral on Facebook.
More than a million people saw it, and prominent figures in the field, including Bootsy Collins, shared and left comments. His song "For a Change is Coming" from the I Am Life album has an incredible vocal, musical, theatrical, and movement video. Given that his inspiration for the role came from James and other classic musicians, it makes sense that his version of the Godfather of Soul, replete with characteristic dancing movements, went viral on the internet. Local rap-gospel musician and drummer Keith Mills, DREION's uncle, refers to his nephew as "an old soul."
DREION was allowed to share his music and narrative by management after his captivating performance was caught on camera. He made his stage debut in front of a large audience at a talent event at Sunny Slope Elementary School. "This Little Light of Mine" was the first song DREION sang. Always popular, he was.
DREION was so narrow-minded by high school that he struggled to fit in with the nickname "the weird music nerd." He, in turn, found it annoying to sing alongside certain students who were only enrolled in the choir for the credit. The state and national honors choirs were where he found his musical tribe. He improved his skills at the Omaha Conservatory of Music and in church performances. They were still having financial difficulties at home. He started going to Grace Apostolic Church, where Bishop William Barlowe, the pastor, served as his mentor.
Tina Bishop, a fellow churchgoer with aspirations in music, introduced DREION and his cousin Davion Bailey to Berklee. DREION put in a ton of effort, and after his senior year, he received financial aid and scholarships totaling around $600,000.
He didn't feel ready for music theory yet, so he spent a year at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, where he was financially supported by the Buffett scholarship, before moving to Boston. He was able to maintain financial stability thanks to the Gates Millennium Scholarship. Likewise, he received his degree in songwriting. His advocacy activity is a synthesis of his history and present.
Foster Care Awareness Month was the focus of his debut EP's release. By collaborating with the nationwide advocacy group Mixed Roots, he is using his art to raise awareness of problems related to foster care. Throughout the Foster Care Chronicles Series, DREION discusses what it was like to be cut apart from his family. He made contact with First Star Academy in Los Angeles through Mixed Roots. It offers assistance to foster youngsters so they may complete high school and enroll in college. Foster Boy is produced by Peter Samuelson, a co-founder.
As a representative of the FSA, DREION addresses national partners about their experiences and how they may support foster youngsters in pursuing higher education. DREION hopes to use his growing profile to engage in greater advocacy. He sees his art as an answer to a frequent complaint he hears people make all the time: Where have all the great musicians and music truly gone?
He intends to stay very much involved with Omaha. As things pick up speed, DREION's maturity should work to his advantage. He has entertained at several esteemed gatherings and locations throughout the globe, such as the famed Grand Ole Opry, the College World Series, the Wolf Ferrari Haus in Munich, Germany, the Rady Shell in Jacob's Park in San Diego, and numerous other City Winery venues.
'The Voice' Season 26 star DREION is married to his high school sweetheart
DREION garnered major attention while he was still studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston. At that time, he was both a husband and a parent. He tied the knot with A'Lexis, his high school sweetheart from Omaha Northwest Magnet High School, in 2015. Remarkably, he was only eighteen years old, while she was twenty. They celebrated the birth of their first daughter in 2018. In 2024, they welcomed their second daughter into the world. Together, this couple forms a remarkable partnership. A'Lexis is not only a blogger but also an author.
Roses Are Red, her romantic fiction book, was released near the close of 2020. She runs the "Lex Sip & Read" YouTube channel and blog.
'The Voice' Season 26 airs on Mondays at 8 PM ET on NBC.