Team Gwen Stefani: ‘The Voice’ Season 26 photos, bios, artist rankings

Pop-rock Grammy winner Gwen Stefani has been a coach on “The Voice” eight different times now (though never consecutively), and she married former judge Blake Shelton in 2021. She successfully coached Carter Rubin to a victory in Season 19, and is itching to become a two-time “The Voice” champion with her current crop of contenders. Now that the Season 26 blind auditions have begun, can Gwen prevail for the second time on NBC’s reality TV show?

Tour our gallery above (or click here for direct access) for a closer look at Team Gwen Stefani on “The Voice” Season 26, including photos, bios and artist rankings. Also see our features for Team Michael Buble, Team Reba McEntire and Team Snoop Dogg.

Sydney Sterlace (4-CHAIR TURN)
Age: 15
Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Resident: Buffalo, NY

Although Sydney is the only musical one in her family, she has always had their full support throughout her journey. It began with competing in local talent shows when she was 7 and by the time she was 10, she had already struck gold by winning first place in the Erie County Fair Talent Competition. She has since kept that momentum, singing the national anthem at a Buffalo Sabres game this year and multiple Buffalo Bisons games. She has also been a regular performer at a local music arts festival organized by Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls. Her dedicated mom has played a crucial role in Sydney’s success, including scouting singing opportunities on social media to finding local competitions for Sydney to compete. Sydney recently won a TikTok challenge promoted by Broadway Evolved. Unsure if the competition was real and never dreaming it would lead to anything, Sydney was blown away when she won. She was flown out to New York on an all-expenses-paid trip for a weeklong Broadway intensive with Betsy Wolfe, an experience she will never forget.

Jan Dan (2-CHAIR TURN)
Age: 29
Hometown: Newark, NJ
Resident: Douglasville, GA

Jan Dan is a stage name that was derived from the first part of his given name, Najee spelled backward, and the first letters of his last name, Daniels. Jan Dan’s mom, Fundisha, is a singer and songwriter. She landed a record deal with Jermaine Dupri’s company, So So Def, and moved Jan Dan and his siblings to Atlanta when he was just 10 years old. Besides his mom, his uncle, LaShawn, was a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer and one of Jan Dan’s biggest inspirations. Unfortunately, LaShawn died in a tragic car accident in 2019, which left Jan devastated. Although music was something he loved, Jan Dan wasn’t ready to pursue music full-time after high school. He went the safer route and enrolled in culinary school. Over the years he became more confident in his musical abilities and pushed fear aside. Remembering what his uncle told him before he passed, Jan Dan shifted his focus to music to build upon his family’s legacy. He has been writing, recording and producing, sometimes even writing with his wife, Nicole. They are expecting their first child soon, and Jan Dan feels this is the best time as any to go full force into his passion.

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