‘The Voice’ Rising Star Stephanie Rice Chooses Music and Science
Stephanie Rice/Instagram Reading Time: 3 minutes
Stephanie Rice took to The Voice stage when she was 27 years old. She was able to win over America rather quick with her Joplin-esque rendition of “Piece by Piece” by Kelly Clarkson. Her unique singing style made her audition memorable, so what is she up to now?
Stephanie began her career on The Voice out in the best way possible. Her unique style made Clarkson’s hit song her own. Judges were so impressed with her, especially Clarkson who tweeted “Can’t. Stop. Crying.” On the stage, Stephanie expressed the reason behind her power on stage.
“My father is a pastor, and they disowned me. I’ve been taking that brokenness and emotion, I’ve been channeling it into the only form I knew how, which is through music,” she said during her audition.
Stephanie began the season out on on Team Gwen. She succeeded in the battle rounds but was up for elimination in the Knockout rounds. After her Knockout round she was saved from elimination by Alicia Keys. Stephanie performed an emotional rendition of “Every Breath You Take” by The Police in the Live Playoffs but she did not receive the votes to continue. Keys chose to save Stephanie in this round. She eventually was eliminated in the bottom two of the Top 12.
Stephanie grew up in a very religious household. She realized her passion for music at a young age when she performed in the church with her mother. At 17 years old, her father found Stephanie’s love letters. While this is embarrassing for any child, this is how her dad found out she was gay. Her father didn’t accept her sexuality, but she expressed her feelings until she turned 18. At the age of 18 she came out as gay, her parents didn’t take it well and disowned her.
Stephanie went on to get a degree in biology from Baylor College of Medicine, she landed a job at the college after graduation. During this time she became a published author at the International AIDS Society Journal. During this time Stephanie met the love of her life, Janeth. They had pushed off their wedding for a while for Stephanie’s music career, but it seems like they were wed in August of 2018.
Life After The Voice
As soon as Stephanie stepped away from the show she did not waste a minute. She immediately began performing in shows and releasing new songs. Since her time on the show she’s released five singles. Her most recent single released on January 28, 2022, but seems to only be available to stream on Apple Music.
Recently, Stephanie has gone back to music after taking a bit of a hiatus to aid in COVID-19 research. Last September, Stephanie shared that she her research with the University of Southern California has been published with the American Society for Microbiology.
When the pandemic began she wanted to contribute to scientific research and happened to receive an email from the University of Southern California asking if she wanted to join their lab. Stephanie jumped on to the opportunity, but also chose to enroll in online classes at the Berklee College of Music. She’s always described herself as an artist with a scientific mind, so she really began embracing both sides of herself during this time. In her lifestyle announcement, she shared that the quantity and quality of her songs have gone up since deciding to live both of her dreams.
Test comment