Watch a contestant make Reba McEntire cry with performance for his late mother on The Voice

There isn’t a dry eye in the house after Dylan Carter sings Whitney Houston.

The Voice Blind Auditions always love to play up the emotional stories but I doubt anyone was fully prepared for the out-right sobbing induced by contestant Dylan Carter in the final night of the season 24 Blinds. Reba McEntire couldn’t get through her critique without pausing multiple times to get emotional! John Legend and Gwen Stefani were crying! There were not enough of Reba’s tots in the studio to comfort anyone.

The 20-year-old from Saint George, S.C. is very open in his intro package about why he’ll be singing the Whitney Houston ballad “I Look to You” for his audition: Throughout his life, whenever this song came on the radio, Dylan’s mother, who shared his love of music and performing, would say she wanted Dylan to song this song at her funeral. He brushed it off, but a year ago, his mother died suddenly from a heart blockage at the age of 47. He says he tried to sing the song for her at her funeral, but couldn’t make it through it — singing it here at The Voice would be “a second chance to make her proud.” If you’re not crying at this point you might be a robot and should get that checked out.

Reba McEntire on ‘The Voice’. Tyler Golden/NBC via Getty

Suffice it to say, going into this audition, the emotion is already palpable. Dylan harnesses all of that feeling and delivers a powerful rendition of the song infused with authenticity and heart. All four coaches push their buttons. Once he’s done singing, he can’t hold back the tears, which in turn makes Gwen get choked up. It’s Mama Reba who asks the young singer if he’s okay and he manages an “I’m good.” You just know this entire critique is going to be stained with tears. Reba leads things off and after Dylan notes that there was a lot of emotion in that song, she tells him she “saw it,” she “felt it,” she “heard it” before her voice catches. When a performance can move people as much as Dylan did, “that’s when you know you’ve got a great song and a great singer,” she says.

“You made the Queen cry in the best way possible,” Niall Horan says. Telling Dylan that although there were some pitch issues, especially once the coaches started pressing their buttons, you “only get four chairs when you move the room.” It’s not until John’s critique, in which he tells Dylan that the emotion feels like it’s “really real for [him]” that Dylan tells them the story behind his song choice. Well, there’s not a dry eye in the house after that. A teary-eyed John Legend makes sure Dylan knows that his mom would be very proud of him and honestly, have you called your mother yet?

But it’s Reba who has the last word: Still crying, she begins to tell Dylan about how crucial a role her own mother played in her career — that she pursued music because her mother would be able to live out her dreams through her daughter. She doesn’t mention it on the show, but Reba McEntire’s mother Jaqueline died in 2020, so the singer connects with Dylan, who says that a career in music was his mother’s dream “before it was [his].”

Let’s be honest: Of course Dylan decides to join Team Reba in the end, noting that he thinks “she could be a comforting mom figure” for him. It feels perfectly right for Dylan Carter to take the 14th and final spot on the Queen of Country’s inaugural Voice team. And with that teary send-off, Reba announces that not only is her team officially full, but that her Reba’s Tots stand is officially closed. Just when we need some comfort carbs most!

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: