He didn’t know why it took him a year of college, calculus II and chemistry to realize, “Hey, if I love music, then maybe I should give it a shot.”
This thought led industrial engineering sophomore Aiden Ross to take a leap of faith. After applying to The Voice on a whim and being accepted, the singer was flown out to Los Angeles as a contestant on Season 28 of the hit NBC show.
The 20-year-old College Station native wowed The Voice coaches during his blind audition, earning all four chairs’ turns within seconds. His rendition of Adele’s “Love in the Dark” left Michael Bublé, Reba McEntire, Niall Horan and Snoop Dogg each pleading their case to have Aiden on their team.
Aiden grew up singing with his family on their strawberry farm and learned to harmonize when his dad would play guitar and his sister would sing with him. Aiden wrote his first song at 7 years old and even began singing at school talent shows.
“Come seventh grade, my dad was like, ‘Okay, man, I’m tired of playing guitar, it’s your turn,’” Aiden said. “He put a guitar in my hands, and I couldn’t really put it down, and that really became my thing.”
Although the Ross family owns a handful of right-handed guitars, Aiden’s father, Jim Ross, bought a left-handed guitar to better fit Aiden. According to Jim, Aiden was strumming advanced songs within weeks. Early on, Jim hoped that his kids would develop a love for music and share his joy for the lifelong hobby.
“We didn’t really believe that we wanted to force it,” Jim said. “We just had a house full of instruments and, over time, [our children] all kind of gravitated to it in their own way.”
While juggling academics and a commitment to the basketball team at A&M Consolidated, Aiden continued to pursue music by joining his high school’s a capella group, A-Side A Cappella, and playing gigs around town at events like First Friday in Downtown Bryan.
He said the environment of street vendors, food and live music is special to him and is an underrated aspect of his hometown.
“That was the first time I really performed as an individual in front of people, and that allowed me to see how receptive people were to my sound,” Aiden said. “I think that’s what I really fell in love with, and since then, I truly fell in love with performing and creating music.”
During his senior year, Aiden decided to attend college at Texas A&M. He said that at that time, despite his love for music, seeing what everyone else was doing led him to the practical decision to pursue higher education. He said he feels gratitude for his time at college and for the lasting friendships he made, and is more ready for The Voice after his freshman year.
“I experienced so much growth in my freshman year alone at Texas A&M,” Aiden said. “The friends I’ve made in the a capella group I joined — they truly are my best friends. I think singing with my sister from a young age taught me how special it is to sing with other people.”
Jim said that after Aiden spent a year at A&M, he saw that his heart longed for music. At the end of his freshman year, Aiden told his parents he had tried out for The Voice and had been called out to Hollywood as a contestant. Parents and close friends of the contestants were also flown out for interviews and to attend the blind auditions, and Jim said watching the judges respond to his son’s performance was reaffirming.
“It was great to see that validation and that people like what they heard, and that he gets a chance to continue to show what he can do, because he’s really quite special; the way he can rise to those big occasions like that and perform,” Jim said.
As a parent, Jim said he is most proud of the positive feedback he saw on social media as a testament to Aiden’s character. He described his son as a wonderful person, and said that it is rewarding to see his son express a positive attitude through his music.
“What I’m really most proud of is really the kind of man he is becoming,” Jim said. “To me, music is the background, but really, he’s the person who really cares about people and he’s got high standards and integrity.”
Aiden shared that his experience while filming The Voice in Los Angeles was a mix of busy, schedule-packed days and some that allowed for more free time that he filled by writing music, exploring the city and growing closer with the other contestants. As one of the youngest contestants, he remarked on the unique relationships he developed with other singers.
“It’s almost been like a summer camp because we were all cooped up together in a hotel, and so we had a lot of time to get to know each other, and we all became great friends,” Aiden said. “I was pleasantly surprised to just see the quality of people on this show — really every person you see on that stage is a stand-up individual, everybody’s really special. There’s been a crazy amount of humility in this season, and I’ve just been blessed to be a part of it.”
During the blind auditions of The Voice, all four coaches have the opportunity to turn their red chairs if they like what they’re hearing. The contestant has the opportunity to choose which team they join if more than one chair turns.
Walking onto the stage to perform his blind audition, Aiden recalled thinking, “One is all I need,” in order to move on in the show. With that mentality, Aiden began his performance and was shocked to see Snoop Dogg’s chair spin around within seconds. The remaining three coaches soon followed, and Aiden said the gravity of the situation and muscle memory grounded him, allowing him to focus and finish his performance.
“That was really weird for me to experience on stage,” Aiden said. “Because I’m singing ‘Love in the Dark’ by Adele, which is a super emotionally sad, heart-wrenching song when I’m just absolutely ecstatic and losing my mind.”
Snoop Dogg said he literally could not turn his chair around fast enough and adamantly tried to convince Aiden to choose him as his coach, according to NBC affiliate KCEN-HD. In the same article, Niall Horan described Aiden’s voice as unbelievable, and said from the second Aiden opened his mouth, he could see him in the final.
Aiden said that the pivotal decision of picking his coach was no easy task. He praised winning attributes of all four music giants, from record-label owner Snoop Dogg’s light-hearted humor to Reba McEntire’s industry experience to the talent and character of Michael Bublé. Ultimately, however, their shared musical and personality traits led Aiden right to Team Horan.
“I mean, all four coaches are there because they are legends, and they have really changed or done something really special in the industry,” Aiden said. “But I think I settled on Niall because he came from The X Factor, right? So he has the experience of coming from a TV show and finding that after success. Also just as far as the music he writes — I think it is closer to what I want to make.”
Despite remaining in College Station while Aiden was filming in LA, his girlfriend Lauren Moore ‘25 said that she got a front row seat to the experience. Moore said hearing bits and details about the show and Aiden’s journey and then watching the episodes as they air has been a unique and amazing experience.
“It’s been really amazing, because Aiden deserves the world,” Moore said. “He has been so humble and so positive through all of this and getting to see that positive feedback has been awesome.”
Aiden’s family hosted a watch party at their home in College Station to watch the first episode air while surrounded by family and friends. Aiden’s college a capella group came to the party to watch his dreams come to fruition. As the three-hour episode began, the house exploded in celebration, unaware that Aiden’s performance would be shown first.
“The coaches talk for like two minutes and then boom, it flashes to a shot of me, my mom and my dad, and everybody just loses it,” Aiden said. “That was a crazy experience.”
Being born and raised in College Station, Aiden said he knew the bond between Aggies would provide love and support for his journey. He expressed how incredible it has been to see the support system from both his inner circle and the entire student body rise up — even noting how A&M former students have reached out to congratulate him.
“I’m so blessed to go to a university where the students just have such a pride for their people,” Aiden said. “I’m just blessed to be part of it, I mean there’s nothing like that.”
Aiden said that in this waiting period, he is excited to have time with family and friends and to work on his music while weekly episodes air. He said it is exciting to hear feedback from people who were not with him in LA who are finally getting to see him perform.
Last weekend, Aiden also dropped his first self-written single titled, “Everything and More.”
“As someone who’s grown up watching [The Voice], to finally be on the other side of things is really sweet, but it’s also really silly and fun,” Aiden said. “It’s been, truly, just an incredible experience.”
Viewers can watch The Voice live on NBC on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7 p.m. The top artists will compete against each other weekly during the live broadcast. The audience will have a chance to vote to save their favorite artists until one is named the winner. At the end of the competition, one artist will be named “The Voice.”
This story was originally published on The Battalion on October 15, 2025.
