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John Legend Breaks Down in Tears After Moving ‘The Voice’ Performance

Fellow judge Gwen Stefani got emotional as well

John Legend The Voice Judge Chair CAT2
Trae Patton/NBC

Imagine being so moved by a singer’s performance that you can’t stop crying on national television. Well, that’s what John Legend, 44, experienced firsthand on the most recent episode of The Voice, where he completely broke down in tears once again after watching a contestant give a stellar performance onstage. 

During Tuesday’s Knockout Round, a contestant named Lennon VanderDoes (from Team Niall Horan) took center stage to sing Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up.” And boy did the 27-year-old put on quite a performance.

The contestant completely blew the judges away, especially Legend. In the video above, you can see the “Tonight” singer wiping tears away. He shared with the contestant, “Ever since I became a dad, I definitely cry a lot more than I used to. It’s hitting me more.” 

FYI, Legend shares four children with his wife, Chrissy Teigen. The couple welcomed their youngest son, Wren Alexander Stephens, back in June.

Legend went on to say how he’s always considered VanderDoes to be the “underdog” of the singing competition. While still crying, he said, “I just felt you being fully yourself, and it felt so moving to me. I don’t know why I keep crying. I can't stop.”

But Legend wasn’t the only one fighting back tears. Fellow judge Gwen Stefani also got pretty emotional and Reba McEntire walked over to comfort her. 

The 68-year-old McEntire (who joined the show this season) told the contestant, “Lennon, I hope you realize that that's the biggest compliment another artist could give you is just to sit there and cry because you touched John to his core.”

Unfortunately, Horan crowned contestant Alexa Wildish as the winner of the Knockouts Round, and as a result, VanderDoes was sent home. Still, he made a huge impact on the judges.

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Assistant Editor, News And Entertainment

Karelle McKay is the Assistant Editor of News and Entertainment at PureWow. Before she started writing about all things pop culture, she was a literal couch potato who loved...