Who is Val T Webb? Gospel and Christian artist got coaches fighting for her after 4-chair turn on 'The Voice' Season 25
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Val T Webb, a contestant on 'The Voice', not only turned all four chairs during her audition, but she also shared a memorable onstage moment with her son. During the blind auditions for the singing competition on March 12, Val enters the stage to perform "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" by Deborah Cox.
Coach John Legend is immediately charmed by Val's vocals and turns his chair 20 seconds into her performance, followed by Chance the Rapper, Dan + Shay, and Reba McEntire. After Val's performance, all four coaching teams stood.
"Val, I'm so happy for you, because I just see the joy on your face and a little relief, too, I think," John says. "It's very difficult doing this audition, but you just handled it with such poise and grace.
"I don't know if you noticed, but I was the first one who turned for you," he says, eliciting eye rolls from coworkers.
When John asks if she sings in church, Val says she was a worship director for "many, many years" and now works as a background singer for professional singers.
Shay Mooney then praises Val's performance.
"I think we can all agree that this is really special," he said to Val. "You have such a light. I don't think it's the lights behind you; I think it's just you."
The country duet agrees that Val has a unique voice, with Dan Smyers describing it as "one of the best performances" he has seen.
"You're a backup singer no more," Shay explains.
"Now you're the lead singer," Dan says. "You kicked it into a whole other gear, and it was just unbelievable."
It was then Chance's time to provide input and say the correct thing in order to bring Webb on board. "Your breath control is ridiculous," Chance says.
"You made it your own song, and I feel like that's what this shows all about."
Reba then meets Val, who responds with an "Oh my gosh".
"I got to thinking, if I'm going to give any notes, I really need to pay attention and see if there is anything I can critique on," Reba says. "There wasn't."
Val is clearly impressed by Reba's statement.
"I've been in the business a long, long time, and you just look like a beautiful woman, loves to sing for the Lord as I do, and we'd have a great time together. I'd love to be your coach," Reba continues.
Which coach did Val T Webb pick on 'The Voice' Season 25?
Chance convinces Val to join his squad! "I got Val!" Chance yelled.
"I can't believe it; I feel so bad for John - I am officially the four-chair king."
Val is the tenth member to join Team Chance. "Team Chance is the team to beat, per use," Chance stated.
"The hard part is over. Now we're getting to the fun."
Val T Webb admits to trying out 'The Voice' for son
Following her Blind Audition, Val takes a minute to speak about someone close to her heart: her son, Joshua. "He's the reason why I'm actually here," she continues, leading John to beg her to bring him on stage.
Joshua approaches to stand next to his mother, and John starts with his attempts to entice Val to join his side, asking her son who his favorite coach is.
"Someone who's got some experience on 'The Voice,' you know, maybe in his ninth seasons," John adds, referring to himself and mentioning that he performed gospel.
'The Voice' Season 25 star Val T Webb provided backup vocals to Yolanda Adams, India Arie, Robin Thicke, LeAnn Rimes
Val is a gospel and Christian performer and mother of three from Birmingham, Alabama. She is presently located in New Braunfels, Texas, and formerly served as the worship director at the Church of the Highlands.
Vale previously released music as Valerie T Smith, including a four-song EP called "Dreams" from 2016, which is still accessible on streaming services. Val told Voyage Atlanta in 2020 that she began singing in church when she was five or seven years old and has "never stopped."
By the time she was a teenager, she had joined a girl group, learned to play the piano, and was leading church music. She recorded her debut solo, "I'm Glad You Got Here," with the University of Alabama at Birmingham gospel choir while still a student there.
Val appeared in the 2020 PBS film "Dreams of Hope," which depicted a landmark concert at a Birmingham church 50 years after four black girls were murdered there. Val has also sung and supervised backup vocals for other singers, including Yolanda Adams, India Arie, Robin Thicke, LeAnn Rimes, and former 'American Idol' runner-up Bo Bice.
She has also begun teaching an online course for indie musicians, titled "Indie Is My Major."
'The Voice' Season 25 airs on NBC at 8 pm on Mondays and 9 pm on Tuesdays. The episodes will be available on Peacock on demand the next day. The streaming site also includes entire episodes from the show's prior seasons.