'The Voice': 11 Sob Stories

The Voice's season 4 premiere had it all — children incorrectly presumed deaf, drunk driving fatalities, recovering alcoholics, and dead babies (twins, no less!), but Atlantan R&B singer Vedo was the sobbiest sobber of all. After surviving years of homelessness with his mother, he learned she had terminal Stage 4 lung cancer. Vedo vowed to care for her, only to receive an invitation to audition for the show. He didn't want to leave his mom's side, but she convinced him to follow his dream. If you weren't crying at this point, you weren't living. —Lanford Beard

One of the series' first true throat-clenchers: Jeff Jenkins' mom died and then he came on the show, a fact which he used to bust open a cover of ''Bless the Broken Road'' — made famous by Rascal Flatts and done better by Jenkins. Riding the country bandwagon only took Jeff so far in season 1, but we'll always have that first audition when he got it rolling. —Adam Carlson

If The Voice were a battle for the most harrowing sob story, Jamar Rogers would have won season 2, hands down. The show has rarely ever tugged at the heartstrings as much as when it introduced the attractive 29-year-old from the Bronx — a former meth addict, who was diagnosed with HIV only to turn his life around and become a volunteer, feeding people with life-threatening illnesses. Oh, and did we mention he was best friends with Danny Gokey, one of American Idol's most tear-jerking contestants of all time? It was a veritable waterworks trifecta! —Samantha Highfill

Nicole Nelson lived in a shoe factory. This is not a typo. I repeat: Nicole Nelson lived in a shoe factory, according to Nicole Nelson. But it was a ''beautiful'' existence, (again) according to Nicole, which allowed her to co-mingle with other factory-loving artists. Either way, if the experience is what gave the season 3 contender that lovely vocal tone, we all might consider camping out with the cobblers, too. —Adam Carlson

A much-needed silver lining, Mycle Wastman convinced three judges to turn around for his performance of ''Let's Stay Together'' just a week after the passing of his grandfather. It wasn't his first blow from unexpected tragedy. The season 3 singer lost his parents as a young boy, lending his dreamy falsetto an extra layer of soul. —Samantha Highfill

Season 3 really was the season of the sob story. I can say that because The Voice found someone named Diego Val who had a bone-disintegrating disease as a child before growing into his Diet Enrique voice. The best news is that Val overcame the childhood hardship with his vest-rocking skills (and wondrous eyebrows) intact. —Adam Carlson

Jesse Campbell was homeless for a time before his season 2 audition. He was also bald and black — all things The Voice shamelessly, inappropriately capitalized on at different times, to different effects. Best of all is just to start and end with Campbell's blind audition, with ''A Song For You.'' Or, as Cee Lo said: ''You touch me deep down.''—Adam Carlson

Season 3 competitor Trevin Hunte grabbed our attention when he told us his story of growing up in Jamaica, Queens, and going to sleep with ''gunshots ringing through the air.'' But he grabbed the coaches' attention when he sang Beyoncé's ''Listen'' for his blind audition. By the time he completed his famous battle with Amanda Brown and later belted out ''And I Am Telling You'' on the live stage, our sobs were no longer coming from a place of sadness. —Samantha Highfill

You remember MacKenzie: He was the guy with the guitar and old-fashioned glasses and V-neck white tee — the guy who did strummy, mid-tempo spins on the Top 40, giving him good moments (his blind audition) and bad ones (''What Makes You Beautiful'') Oh, he also survived a coma before competing on season 3? I was too busy looking at his hair. —Adam Carlson

A beautiful Brooklynite with a terrifying story, Adriana Louise shocked audiences with her tale of being held hostage at gunpoint as a child. On stage, she kept things upbeat with thrilling covers of ''Domino'' and ''Firework'' that took home to season 3's Top 12. —Samantha Highfill

Before he won us over with his smooth rendition of ''Ain't No Sunshine'' in season 3, the guitar-strumming crooner (born Nelson Emokpae) recalled packing up his entire family in two suitcases and fleeing his home country of Nigeria. ''This is a set back right now,'' he told coach Christina Aguilera after she reluctantly cut him, ''but I'll keep going.'' —Samantha Highfill