LDN.THE VOICE: Reba McEntire Addresses Brandon Blackstock’s Death Following Aubrey Nicole’s Emotional Performance.LND
Aubrey Nicole brought an emotional performance of “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” to The Voice Knockouts. (Photo credit: The Voice/YouTube)
Monday night kicked off The Voice Season 28 Knockouts, and a Team Reba favorite was sent home.
In recent weeks, the 48 contestants who advanced past the Season 28 Blind Auditions were whittled down to 32 during the Battle Round. On Monday (October 27), the Battles concluded and the next phase of competition, the Knockouts, began.
The Knockouts pits two members of the same team against each other, singing songs that they chose themselves. After each pairing performs, their coach is tasked with choosing which artist will move on and which will be eliminated.
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Unlike in past seasons, there are no Steals available to the coaches this season. Instead, a new feature, called the Mic Drop, will allow a coach to choose one artist on their team whose performance was especially impressive.
Once each coach Mic Drops an artist from their team, viewers will choose which of the artists will be the Mic Drop winner. The winning contestant will perform during the Rose Parade Presented by Honda on January 1, 2026.
On Monday night, Team Reba members Aubrey Nicole and Leyton Robinson were among the first to compete in the Knockout Round.
Aubrey Nicole earned a one-chair turn from Reba during her Blind Audition performance of Cam’s “Burning House.” She lost her Battle Round performance against Cori Kennedy, but was Saved by her coach.
Leyton Robinson earned a two-chair turn during her audition with a cover of Ella Langley’s “weren’t for the wind.” Leyton chose to join Team Reba and won her Battle against Manny Costello after they performed Chris Stapleton’s “Think I’m In Love With You.”
For the Knockouts, Leyton Robinson sang “I Could Use A Love Song” by Maren Morris. Aubrey Nicole chose to sing “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” by Martina McBride as a tribute to her dad who is a cancer survivor.
The matchup ended up being one of the most emotional of the season so far due to Aubrey’s song choice. The performance had viewers and the coaches in tears, something each of the coaches mentioned when sharing feedback.
“Aubrey, I had goosebumps,” Michael Buble told her. “I believed every single word of it. That was just stunning.”
Coach Snoop was clearly moved by Aubrey’s performance. He told her that he had never heard that song before, “But I’ve lost so many people in my life from cancer, so it was like … you hit me in the heart. And that’s what music is supposed to do.”
When it was Reba’s turn to speak, she addressed the loss of her son, Brandon Blackstock. Reba took a moment to compose herself before saying, “I do know this song … I lost my oldest son because he did not win with cancer. So that was a real reminder that life goes on, and we sing songs about it so we can remember the ones that are around us that we love so much and that we lean on at times like this.”
Brandon Blackstock was the oldest son of Reba’s ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock. Brandon died on August 7, 2025, at the age of 48. He died at his home in Butte, Montana, where he was in hospice care for melanoma.
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Ultimately, Reba chose to keep Aubrey Nicole, and Leyton Robinson was eliminated.
Watch Aubrey Nicole’s emotional performance of “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” below.
