If you caught up with Ralph Edwards out on the street, it might not be readily apparent he’s a leading contestant on Season 28 of the NBC series “The Voice.”
But there are signs.
A silver chain hangs around his neck, adorned with a Death Row Records pendant. It was a gift from Snoop Dogg, given to the Fresno singer after he chose the rap legend as his coach for the season.
“He put this around my neck, and blessed me,” Edwards told The Bee in an interview this month.
Edwards could have chosen any of the show’s four celebrity judges following his televised blind audition in September. He hadn’t given the decision any thought until the moment came. He chose Snoop Dogg because he wanted to be a part of the family of writers, producers and past “The Voice” winners that the rapper has cultivated over the years.
What came out on air was: “I’ll get that chain Snoop. Let’s go.”
Edwards ‘could easily win’
Over the course of three performances, Edwards has been a frontrunner to win the show.
That’s according to NBC Insider, quoting Snoop Dogg and fellow judge Michael Bublé, after watching the singer’s performance in the Knockout Round last month.
Currently, he’s in the competition’s top 16. The playoff episodes start Dec. 1 and the show’s finale is Dec. 16. The show streams on Peacock the next day.
This makes Edwards the second most successful area musician to compete on “The Voice.” He made it further than Visalia’s Rudy Parris, who was eliminated in the Knockout Round in season three of the show back in 2011.
He’s now only slightly behind Alyssa Witrado, who made it to the top 13 before being eliminated in Season 23.
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12th time’s the charm
That fact he’s on the show at all is a testament to perseverance.
. “I never had a plan B,” Edward told The Bee.
“I stood in that 4,000-person line when I was 17 years old. It was me and my mom.”
He auditioned for “the Voice” 11 times over the last decade, and also “America’s Got Talent,” “American Idol,” “X Factor” and lesser known “The Four”). At each go, he was rejected.
Each rejection was a moment for growth.
“I had so much respect for ‘The Voice’ because they humbled me,” said Edwards, now 30.
“They told me no right away.”
Edwards was a born performer. There is video of him as a child, three years old in his underwear, just singing away. In a photo from around the same time, he’s dressed in a suit and tie, stood up next to a microphone. He’s smiling, happy as anything.
He got formal training as part of the choir at Kastner Middle School and Clovis West High School, where he went before transferring to RFK in Delano. After graduation, he did a stint at Fresno City College where he studied with longtime educators Julie Dana and the late Rebecca Sarkisian.
That’s where he really learned to use and understand his voice. This allows him to genre switch; pulling off rock songs and smoother R&B pop ballads with similar ease.
Journey’s 1978 hit “Lights” earned Edwards his spot on the show.
Ed Sheeran’s 2017 track “Dive” got him into the playoffs.
Who is VibeCheck?
Most recently, his education has been on stage fronting the band VibeCheck.
Over the last three years the group has become well-known as a kick-back party band, performing at both small nightclubs like Howling Wolf and Goldstein’s in the Tower District and at larger events. They headlined a stage at this year’s Tower Porchfest and played support for Ludacris and Juvenile at Tequila Fest.
And the band is keeping busy, even with Edwards on the show. It just announced a Valentine’s Day concert at the Warnors Theatre with The Moreno’s and Slick and Wicked.
Fronting VibeCheck has been valuable prep work for his run on the “The Voice,” Edwards said.
“Fresno is a fun crowd. I love feeding into that crowd,” he said.
“So, every time I got a chance to get on stage and sing for people that was just one step closer to my dream.”
Ralph Edwards sings while, from left, Bobby Griffin, Gene Abella and Marco Flores with the band Vibe Check perform during a rehearsal in front of a home in Fresno’s Tower District in preparation for this year’s Tower Porchfest, on Thursday, April 17, 2025.