Did a ‘Voice’ singer’s emotional song really reduce Snoop Dogg to tears?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for season 26 of The Voice. 

Snoop Dogg’s team has been dominating this season of The Voice, and the first night of Knockouts showed why these singers are a force to be reckoned with.  Though all of team Snoop knocked it out of the park, one singer’s performance brought the coaches to tears — including Snoop Dogg himself.  

Austyns Stancil gave an emotional performance of the Luther Vandross song “Dance With My Father” and explained why he chose the song to Snoop and guest Mega Mentor Sting. “Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my father’s death,” he shared, prompting Snoop to give Stancil a big hug. 

Snoop encouraged Stancil to sing the song in honor of his father but to hold back his tears during the performance. After singing for the two men, Snoop was visibly moved to tears — Sting, while not visibly crying, joked he was “on the inside” but couldn’t show his emotions because “you know, I’m British.” 

Snoop is no stranger to the grief of losing a parent after his mother died in 2021. When Stancil asked Snoop how he managed to perform while grieving, the coach shared that he did break down on stage once after his mother’s death. “After that, I never cried again on stage for my mama, because I know that’s what she wanted me to do,” he told Stancil about his decision to keep performing in her memory. “When she was here, I made her proud. I’m going to keep making her proud.” 

Later in the episode, Stancil sang the song in front of the other coaches, moving Reba McEntire and Snoop to tears, and earning a standing ovation from Michael Bublé and Gwen Stefani. “It’s amazing how healing music is,” McEntire said after the performance. “Your dad’s not with us, my dad’s not with us. So this is a song that, yeah, goes to the heart. Very powerful.” Stefani complimented Stancil’s vocal performance while Bublé told Stancil and fellow team Snoop members Christina Eagle and Jake Tankersley that they were “a perfect example of why Snoop is great for The Voice.” 

Bublé further complimented Stancil, saying “you need to be special” to sing a Luther Vandross song. “If I was Snoop, I would probably have to pick you.” Snoop did pick Stancil as the winner of the Knockout after he was moved by his performance and character. “Austyns was the winner based off spirit, personality, and how he composed himself to hold in all of that pain and all of that loss to give us a great performance,” Snoop said of his decision. “You can’t stop emotion when emotion hits you. Tears start falling, chills on your back — that’s real music, that’s real singing.” 

Snoop was especially fortunate during this Knockout, as his team finished the episode essentially unscathed. Although she would have survived the night regardless after the other coaches turned their chairs to steal her, Snoop chose to save Eagle. Eagle gave a powerful performance of Marin Morris’ “My Church,” winning over the rest of the coaches after only Snoop chose her during the Blind Auditions. Tankersley, who sang Luke Combs’ “Going, Going, Gone,” was then saved by Stefani. 

Bublé was right about Snoop being great for The Voice if only because he’s such a joy to watch. The man was positively giddy to see all of his team survive the night, telling the coaches that his team doesn’t really leave, “they just switch locations.” His enthusiasm and love for the contestants is infectious and brings some much-needed light during this past week.