Beverly McClellan (July 6, 1969 – October 30, 2018) was an American singer and a contestant in the 1st season of the American TV series '' The Voice'', reaching the final four. At age four, McClellan started playing the piano and later learned to play guitar, trumpet,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

, bass guitar,

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

and a wide variety of drums and percussion. She started singing at age 24 and had been performing at clubs in and bars around

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, for 20 years.Lesley Goldberg on ''AfterEllen'': An interview with Beverly McClellan
She had won the New York National Music Festival in 2004 as Best Overall Performer amongst 500 contestants.

Biography

She was born in

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, ...

, and raised in Gate City, Virginia. McClellan studied at South Fork High School and then at

Indian River Community College Indian River State College (IRSC) is a public university, public college based in Fort Pierce, Florida, United States. Serving the Treasure Coast region, it is part of the Florida College System and offers associate and bachelor's degree programs ...

Fort Pierce, Florida Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Florida’s Atlantic Coast. It is also known as the Sunrise City. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...

. Her paternal grandmother was a Native American of Mohawk descent. To honor her, McClellan had tattoos representing a variety of different aspects of her grandmother's heritage. She first played with Tami Gordon in a duo called Uncommon Ground. After that she worked with singer, songwriter, guitarist Robyn Fear in the Florida Keys and south Florida region. Years later, she formed her own band called DJ's Daughter, named after her mother. She recorded a few songs with that band, played many gigs for years before beginning to perform as a solo act. She then recorded another two albums on her own before joining Swoop, another band from

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. While she was in the recording studio, her producer invited her to try out for the first season of '' The Voice''. Prior to auditioning for the show, McClellan had already recorded five independent albums without having been signed by any record label. She was coached by

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

and finished in 3rd/4th place in the competition.

Performances on ''The Voice''

McClellan was an openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

artist. In June 2011, she appeared on the cover of ''SHE'' magazine, a South Florida lesbian magazine. She also recorded lead vocals for the song "John the Revelator" on

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

's 2012 album '' The Story of Light'', and toured with Vai the same year.

Illness and death

Beverly McClellan was diagnosed with stage 3c

endometrial cancer Endometrial cancer is a cancer that arises from the endometrium (the epithelium, lining of the uterus or womb). It is the result of the abnormal growth of cells (biology), cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. The first s ...

in March 2018 and performed her final show on the 24th. She died on October 30, 2018, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Discography

Albums

(All independent releases on own label) *''Uncommon Ground'' *''Back to My Roots'' *''As a Girl'' *''Talk of the Town'' (2003) *''Beverly McClellan'' (2011) *''Fear Nothing'' (2011)

Singles

References

External links

Beverly McClellan official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, Beverly 1969 births 2018 deaths American lesbian musicians 21st-century American singers LGBTQ people from Tennessee American LGBTQ singers American rock musicians The Voice (franchise) contestants People from Kingsport, Tennessee Singers from Florida Singers from Tennessee Deaths from uterine cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in California 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people