Asher HaVon Is the First Openly Queer Winner of The Voice

NBC

Asher HaVon, a 31-year-old singer from Alabama, was crowned winner of The Voice on Tuesday night. HaVon is the first out LGBTQ+ champion of the series over the course of 25 seasons.

HaVon spoke about the historic first in an interview with ET. “I am so proud to be a part of that community,” he said. “I just pray that everything I have done on this show [has] inspired them all that they can do the same thing.” (Sawyer Fredericks, who won season 8 of the NBC series, came out as bisexual seven years later in 2022, according to ET.)

During the finals, HaVon performed “Last Dance” by Donna Summer as well as “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston.

HaVon also delivered a finale performance of Patti LaBelle’s “On My Own” with his coach, Reba McEntire.

HaVon became a fan favorite during his time on the show, with his performances garnering more than 11.6 million views across social media platforms including TikTok and YouTube.

HaVon beat out fellow competitors Josh Sanders (also Team Reba), Bryan Olesen and Nathan Chester (Team John Legend) and Karen Waldrup (Team Dan + Shay) for the title. Host Carson Daly told viewers that HaVon hadn’t sung for over two years prior to his blind audition when he was drafted onto Team Reba.

HaVon began singing in gospel choirs at a young age and, in 2015, he led a choir that performed for President Obama during a visit to HaVon’s hometown of Selma, Alabama. During that performance, HaVon sang in front of 200,000 people who had gathered to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.

Before being crowned, HaVon thanked McEntire on air for her support and guidance. “Oh my god, it has meant the world to me,” he said. “Thank you for giving me such a safe place to be [my] artistic self, thank you for making me believe in myself. And I promise you I will never let you down.”

Earlier in the season, coach John Legend said HaVon’s performance of Sia’s “Titanium” was “divine.”

“There are certain things about you that remind me of Whitney Houston,” he said, according to Billboard. “She would take these songs that weren’t written for a soul singer and have that restraint and regal presence on the sound but also throw in a dope run that you would hear in church.”

Legend continued, “In church, we save a descriptor for certain vessels, we say they’re anointed. I just felt that anointing on you. That was divine.”

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Originally Appeared on them.