Christina Aguilera couldn’t help but notice the connection that she and Beverly McClellan, a former contestant on The Voice, who passed away on Tuesday, October 30, had while working together on the competition series.
At The Voice Finale in June 2011, Aguilera touched on their unique bond, proven by their incredible performance of the Grammy winner’s hit song, “Beautiful.”
“There is a certain magic. Whenever we sang together it was especially magical, of course. It’s amazing because you get two artists together and we’re able to share something that we love to do more than anything else in the whole wide world together,” Aguilera, 37, told reporters at the time. “For ‘Beautiful’ to be the song that connected us both in the end was amazing.”
McClellan, who came in fourth place on the show, shared the same sentiment at The Voice finale, saying, “That was a magical moment.”
When asked if the ladies would work together in the near future in June 2011, Aguilera told Us Weekly, “I love Beverly, she is great fun. She rocks the stage. I will always have her involved in some way or another in what I am doing,” while McClellan insisted, “I will stay in cahoots with this one anytime.”
McClellan — who was on the “Candyman” singer’s team during season 1 of the competition series, eventually coming in fourth place — passed away after a long battle with cancer on Tuesday, October 30. She was 49.
“It is with great sadness I have to share the news that we lost Beverly today. She was a wonderful, funny, complicated and incredibly talented young woman who touched millions with her voice and her huge heart. I am honored to have been her manager and her friend,” her publicist announced in a statement on Tuesday. “Please keep her spirit alive by sharing her music and all the wonderful memories you have of her.”
The Tennessee native spoke with Us in 2012 and shared insight on how the show had brought success to her career. “I could only dream about this before. Now I do it. This is great. How has it changed? … I don’t know. I don’t know too much about that whole fame thing. But I’m recognized a lot. I’m happy about that because I signed on for this because I wanted to give my music wings — and it did,” she told Us at The Voice‘s semifinals elimination night. “So now people are listening to what I have to say, not what the show says for me.”
With reporting by Brody Brown and Tanisha Williams
