Gene Taylor’s mother, who adopted him when he was just six months old after he’d been abandoned at the hospital, made sure that he and his sister had “musical enrichment” in their lives, even though she didn’t have a lot of resources as a single mother.

That upbringing appears to have paid off, because the 33-year-old singer received a Four-Chair Turn after his Blinds performance on The Voice Season 25, and all five Coaches wanted him for their team. 

Taylor, who hails from Vernon, New Jersey but has spent the past seven years living in Brooklyn and doing various music-related teaching and performance gigs, came to The Voice because he wanted “something more.” During his performance on the second episode of the season, Taylor performed Journey’s 1978 song “Lights,” dazzling all five of the Coaches with the strength and complexity of his voice.

Watch Gene Taylor’s Blind Audition on The Voice Season 25

Gene Taylor performs during The Voice Episode 2502

Gene Taylor on The Voice Season 25 Episode 2, “The Blind Auditions, Part 2”. Photo: Trae Patton/NBC

John Legend, was the first to turn his chair around, followed shortly by Dan + Shay and then  Reba McEntire. Chance the Rapper took a little bit longer to press his button, but he explained afterward that the delay was only because he was “really arrested by the performance.”

“I’ve always loved a tenor that can sing those beautiful big notes, but also you had so much finesse. it was so expertly done as a vocalist,” Legend said in his pitch for Taylor to join his team. He was then quick to note that he is the most senior Coach on this season and is the only one to have won before, as Team Legend triumphed in Season 16.

“Zero percent of them have won The Voice,” Legend said of the other Coaches. “I’ve won The Voice, and I’m very confident that you and I working together as a team can go very far in this completion.”

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Ultimately, Taylor opted to join Team Legend.

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“His tone was so interesting and cool. I heard a little soul in his voice, too. He is exactly what I was looking for,” Legend said afterward before he talked a little trash about his Coach competitors. “These rookies, these sophomores — they have nothing on my years of experience. I’m here to win The Voice again.”