‘The Voice’ Champs Girl Named Tom Mourn the Death of Their Dad
Girl Named Tom, the sibling trio who won Season 21 of The Voice, are mourning the death of their father, Chris Liechty.
The group — Caleb, Joshua and Bekah Liechty — updated fans on social media on Sunday (Jan. 30) with a video post. "Key points: 1. Thank you. 2. We are hurting. 3. We are okay," they wrote in the caption.
"We just wanted to come out here and say thank you so much for all of your condolences, sympathy, kindness that you've showered us with [through] this whole process," Bekah says in the clip, which was filmed backstage before their show at Bellafontaine, Ohio's Holland Theatre on Sunday night. It's one of several engagements the up-and-comers have got on the books, as their star continues to rise following their winning season on The Voice.
Even as they mourn the loss of their dad, they're still playing those shows, for a couple of very important reasons.
"Yeah, we have three shows the weekend after our father passed. You may be wondering, 'Why we would do that?' We are too, sort of. But we went to get them out of the way so we can really throw ourselves into processing his death and planning his memorial service," explains Caleb.
"And he really wanted us to do these shows," Joshua adds. "He was talking about his death, and he was like, 'Do not let my death deter you from doing these shows.'"
The band mates didn't entirely listen to their father's advice: They did cancel one show on Thursday (Jan. 27) — "We couldn't do it," Bekah notes — but they're hoping to honor their father's memory by playing as many of their scheduled shows as they can.
"He'll be with us tonight," Joshua reflects. "And so we're just happy to be able to sing while we're still here, and sing for him, and for everybody else, too."
Girl Named Tom have been sharing updates with their fans about their dad's declining health in recent months. During the Battle Rounds episode of The Voice, they revealed his terminal cancer diagnosis, singing Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" in his honor. In mid-December, they shared that their dad was in "horrific pain following yet another surgery."
The siblings have also been vocal about how influential both their parents have been on their careers.
"We grew up listening to Mom sing in the church choir & watching Dad play drums," they previously explained. "Mom loved hearing us play the piano as she did the dishes, and BOY did she have us practice. Dad would often come into our room at night (we shared one room for a time!) and play his guitar and sing us to sleep. He’s got great writing skills & we attribute a lot of our inspiration to him."
Girl Named Tom won Season 21 of The Voice for Team Kelly Clarkson. Blake Shelton's team member Wendy Moten was the runner-up, and Team Blake's Paris Winningham placed third.