Brandon Diaz Finally Gets His Chair Turn on The Voice After Returning Years Later
For Brandon Diaz, stepping onto The Voice stage in 2026 meant confronting a disappointment he had carried for years.
The 29-year-old singer had already auditioned for the competition during Season 4. That first attempt ended with no coach turning a chair. This time, however, Diaz walked onto the stage with more experience, greater confidence and a performance that immediately changed his The Voice story.
Brandon Diaz gets the chair turns he missed the first time
Diaz recently recalled just how difficult his first audition had been.
“I did not get a chair turn,” he told TVLine. “I remember being so nervous. I didn’t really know myself as an artist. I was still figuring things out.”
His first appearance came during Season 4, when he was still a teenager. Instead of letting that rejection end his ambitions, Diaz continued working toward a career in music. He later attended Berklee College of Music and continued performing before eventually making his way back to The Voice.
That return became one of the more memorable moments of the Season 30 Blind Auditions.
Diaz chose Justin Timberlake’s “Drink You Away,” a song that may also be familiar to fans because of the memorable performance by Timberlake and Chris Stapleton at the CMA Awards.
This time, the response from the coaches was very different.
Queen Latifah turned her chair first. Kelly Clarkson soon followed, giving Diaz a choice between two coaches who wanted him on their teams.
Clarkson was especially impressed with what she heard, praising Diaz’s vocal ability and the soulfulness he brought to the performance.
His second audition showed how much had changed
The contrast between Diaz’s two auditions was striking.
During his first attempt, he admitted that he was nervous and still trying to understand who he was as an artist. Years later, he returned with a much clearer sense of himself and the confidence to command the stage.
His performance of “Drink You Away” gave him the opportunity he had missed the first time: not only did he earn a chair turn, but two coaches were competing for him.
Adam Levine, who had also been a coach during Diaz’s original audition, acknowledged that he had missed the opportunity again. Diaz’s return therefore carried an added layer of history, since he was standing in front of a coach who had been there the first time around.
That history became even more significant when Diaz revealed that his connection to The Voice went beyond his own auditions.
Brandon Diaz’s wife Jackie Foster also has The Voice history
After the coaches responded to his performance, Diaz explained that this was not his first time standing on the The Voice stage.
“This is actually not my first time on this stage. I was here a decade ago, Adam you were there,” he told the coaches.
Then came another surprise.
“Kelly, and Adam, my wife is Jackie Foster,” Diaz revealed.
Clarkson immediately reacted with surprise.
Foster is herself a former The Voice contestant. She competed during Season 14, initially joining Team Kelly after her Blind Audition. She later lost her Battle Round, but Adam Levine used his steal to bring her onto his team.
Foster’s journey did not end there. During the Knockout Rounds, Alicia Keys stole her from Levine. She subsequently advanced to the Live Playoffs, where she continued competing as viewers voted to keep her in the competition through the semifinals.
That history made Diaz’s appearance even more personal for Clarkson, who had previously coached Foster.
The coaches asked Foster to come onto the stage so they could greet her. She joined her husband as the panel reacted to the unexpected Voice family connection.
Diaz chooses Queen Latifah
With both Queen Latifah and Kelly Clarkson competing for him, Diaz ultimately had to decide which coach he wanted to work with.
He chose Queen Latifah.
The decision made sense given that Latifah was the first coach to turn for his performance, and she made a strong case for why she believed Diaz belonged on her team.
Latifah praised his confidence and said he “owned that song from the beginning.” She also pointed to the energy he brought to the performance and the way he had grown since his earlier attempt on the show.
For Diaz, the moment represented a very different ending from the one he experienced the first time he auditioned.
He once walked onto The Voice stage hoping simply to hear a coach turn around. Years later, he returned as a more confident artist, earned two chair turns and left the Blind Auditions as a member of Team Queen.
His journey on the show is now continuing with Queen Latifah as his coach.
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