It sounds hard to believe, but Shye Roberts swore it was true.
While she and her siblings and Mom, Sheila were living in the Samuel Pierce apartments in Glen Cove, Shye would sing all the time as a little kid.
“And I was terrible!” the 18-year-old declared. “Seriously, really, really bad. My Mom and everyone would put on a brave face and tell me I was good, because I was a little kid.
“But I was really, really bad.”
Roberts tried hard to be convincing about this, but after recent events this reporter and millions of others would most likely not buy it.
That’s because Roberts has become an overnight star. After auditioning and beating out thousands of other entrants, the Glen Cove kid has become a big part of this season’s storylines on the hit NBC show “The Voice.”
In the episode that aired on Oct. 8, Roberts wowed judges Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, Michael Buble and Snoop Dogg with a performance of the Five for Fighting song “Superman.”
With her rich, soulful voice, Roberts earned the coveted “four chair turn” from the judges, meaning each of the judging quartet was impressed by her and wanted her on their “team” this season.
Now Roberts will be a regular on the show, which airs on NBC Mondays and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., respectively, and will get the kind of massive exposure any singer dreams of.
All this from a kid who was begged by her music teacher and her Mom to audition for singing shows and had always refused, because she was (as her name implied) too shy about it.
And since the show aired last week, life has been a little crazy for Roberts and Sheila, though not too bad.
“It’s been really cool to hear from some music people in the industry and everyone I have known most of my life,” Roberts said by phone Wednesday. “And Five for Fighting posted the clip of me singing online, so that was really cool. But yeah otherwise it’s been pretty chill.”
“She’s a very normal, laid-back kid,” Sheila Roberts said. “I’m the one usually screaming and hollering with excitement, but she stays level-headed. I’m just so proud of her.”
Roberts’ musical journey started in Glen Cove at age 2. Sheila said her daughter would whistle around the house all the time, and in tune to whatever was playing on the radio.
The apartment was filled with all kinds of different genres of music.
“And at age 2 she’s whistling a lot better than I could as an adult,” Sheila recalled. “And I thought, ‘hmmm, there may be something musical in this child.”
As Shye grew up, she attended Landing Elementary School and Robert Finley Middle School, finding her crowd with the other music-oriented kids.
Shye performed at Glen Cove’s popular Downtown Sounds music shows, and has sung the national anthem at mayor inaugurations, but said she didn’t necessarily see a future in singing until high school, when two things converged.
First, she came under the tutelage of Glen Cove High School teacher Ed Norris, who nurtured her talent and encouraged her greatly.
And shortly after starting high school Roberts won a scholarship that entitled her to lessons with Jennifer Grimaldi Toohey, co-owner of Long Island Studio of Music.
Money was always tight in the Roberts family, with Sheila on disability due to a freak accident at work in 2010 that severely injured her back (she had already had surgeries for scoliosis prior to the accident, she said.)
“Mr. Norris really developed me in all the vocal ranges, even things I didn’t think I could do, just so I could push myself,” Roberts said. “And Jen, she’s been amazing, really pushing me and encouraging me and being so helpful.”
“Jen has been so helpful and loving toward Shye, and really helped her set goals and achieve them,” Sheila Roberts added.
Grimaldi Toohey said that she knew as soon as she started working with Roberts three years ago that the teen had a special talent.
“She’s authentic, and she really tells a story when she sings,” Grimaldi Toohey said. “How genuine of a person she is really shines through.”
“I just love sharing moments with people in the audience,” Roberts said. “Just telling a story through music, and connecting with them, that is my favorite part of singing.”
Roberts performed in musicals at Glen Cove like “In the Heights” and was given numerous singing awards by the school and by Nassau County.
She had expected to graduate Glen Cove High School last June, but in 2023 a severe health issue suffered by one of Sheila’s other children forced a relocation to Bethlehem, Penn. Roberts finished high school at Lehigh Valley Charter School for the Arts, an experience she said was very tough for her.
It was at the start of the 2023 school year that Roberts finally agreed to Grimaldi Toohey and her mom’s pleadings to audition for “The Voice.” (“Sometimes kids don’t listen to their moms for a long time,” Sheila Roberts said with a laugh.)
“Honestly having that as a goal really helped me after we moved because it was really hard on me,” Roberts said. “Just knowing that auditions were coming up, and as things went along, it made the move a little easier. It really was a blessing.”
After first sending in a video audition, Roberts was chosen to fly to Los Angeles last summer to sing in person, while competing with a few hundred other finalists for the show.
She was then chosen from that group to get a coveted spot on the TV show, an experience she said was exciting but scary.
“Only when I finally stepped on stage and Gwen and all of them were sitting there did it really feel real,” Roberts said. “It was such an honor just to be there.”
After her powerful rendition of “Superman,” the four famous judges each made their case for why she should join their team.
“I was freaking out inside that all of them were so excited about (my performance),” Roberts said. “Like, I got offstage and couldn’t fathom what had just happened.”
Roberts said she knew going in that Buble was who she wanted to guide her “but you know, they all made really good arguments for me being with them!”
Roberts taped the opening segment months ago, but like all reality show competitors, she is sworn to secrecy and wouldn’t reveal how things go for her this season on “The Voice.”
But the recognition has made her reconsider her previous career goal of becoming a scientist.
“I’d love to be a singer and make records and perform,” she said. “If I can do that, I think I’ll be pretty happy.”
