In moments alone as a kid in his bedroom, Da’Dreion Murrell envisioned himself singing before thousands of fans.

His young dreams of stardom weren’t silly childhood fantasies. They gave him a brief escape from an upbringing marred by abuse and neglect, as he bounced between the foster care system and an unstable home life in North Omaha. And those dreams, of a life a world away from his own, pushed him as a performer.

Now on the heels of a national TV appearance with Snoop Dogg on NBC’s “The Voice,” the rising music artist, simply known as Dreion, is set to return home in July to open for Earth, Wind & Fire. Those childhood dreams feel closer than ever.

“I said, ‘I don’t know how it’s going to happen, but this is what I see and I can’t unsee it.’ It’s just there. That was always my drive and determination — to get there. If nothing else, I knew I could do this.”

Off stage, the 28-year-old father of two also is an outspoken voice in the push for foster care reform, advocating for changes to the system that changed his own life.

“There’s a huge life-changing trauma I’m carrying from that experience,” he said. “It’s still the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my life. I’m still having to get therapy and counseling for it.”

His entry into the foster care system came when he was 7. His father was in prison and his mother, who herself was just a teenager when Dreion was born, physically disciplined him at school, leading to a call to child services.

Over several months, he bounced from home to home, where he endured bullying and grappled with depression. In one home, the other kids pushed him down a flight of stairs. He contemplated suicide, got prescribed anti-psychotic drugs and was placed in a mental health facility before an aunt, Felicia Murrell, temporarily won custody of him.

“He had been through the storm by the time I got him,” Felicia Murrell said. “I’ve never seen a child so angry and defiant.”

Even when finally reunited with his mother, behavioral problems resulted in his getting kicked out of school and living with different family members. His emotional struggles were largely dismissed, he said, “and I was left to my own devices.”

One of his few sources of solace came in music. Relatives remember him banging on pots and pans as a toddler. He started singing and eventually took up piano, displaying an innate understanding of pitch and melody.

The roots of that passion and ability trace back to his family. Uncle Keith Mills, a veteran musician, taught young Dreion to play drums. He and other elders fed the boy’s musical appetite by introducing him to different musical genres. Early influences included James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Prince.

Another pivotal influence: the church. At various times growing up, he attended Paradise Baptist and Grace Apostolic churches in Omaha.

Grace pastor Bishop William Barlowe became another father figure in Dreion’s life.

“The only thing that calmed him down was church and choir,” his aunt said.

At Morton Middle School, former music teacher Karen Spurck recognized Dreion wasn’t a typical student. Even at 13, she said, he possessed the “it” factor.

“He just had it from the first time I ever met him,” she said. “He knew what he wanted to do. He was goal-oriented and focused. Whatever he had to do to get the job done, he was ready to do it.”

Spurck gave him ready access to the music room after school. He made it a sanctuary and showcase.

“Kids gravitated to the room after school so they could hear him sing and play,” she said. “They sat quietly in chairs listening to him, encouraging him to do his thing.”

Opportunities followed — headlining school concerts, singing and playing piano at church, starring in state and national choir competitions.

Though a gangly little kid, he exuded poise and command, enough to take charge of his classmates for a school pep rally program he produced and starred in. It was an amazing performance, Spurck recalled.

“And some of those kids were not kids that just anybody took charge of. Some were rough and tough. He taught some the choreography he wanted. He taught others to play specific music parts.”

Mills also recognized that his nephew “had something a little extra special” from a young age. When Dreion was in his mid-teens, his uncle would bring him to gigs around town to sit in with his smooth jazz and R&B band.

“They knew he was gifted, and he always blew the crowd away. They were like, ’Who is this young cat?’”

Georg Getty was a new teacher at Northwest High School when the prodigy came to him. Dreion organized a talent show and produced a graduation program, capped by an original song he and Getty co-wrote.

“The raw talent was obvious from the very beginning. He was already well beyond a lot of my skill sets. I focused mostly on providing opportunities and avenues for growth, encouragement and knocking down barriers,” Getty said. “That’s the best I could do for him.”

Outwardly, Getty said, Dreion had it all going on, but his emotional and economic struggles boiled just under the surface. Performing was his refuge.

“For me, it was having something to shoot for, something to live for, and it was music,” Dreion said. “It’s why I was so determined. I was like ‘I cannot live in this world I was born into … I have to do something different, I have to do something better, I have to do something that gives me joy.’”

Dreion won a scholarship to study music at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He graduated in 2020 with honors. As a Berklee student ambassador, he performed tributes to his idols in Munich, Germany.

He has long been open about his upbringing and time in the foster care system. But when a performance video went viral when he was still at Berklee, his story made its way to a wider audience.

Hollywood producer Peter Samuelson’s 2019 feature film, “Foster Boy,” was essentially finished when he learned Dreion’s story. Samuelson gave his music a listen and was so impressed that he ended up putting two tracks in the film.

Samuelson made Dreion a national ambassador of his First Star nonprofit supporting foster youth. Dreion shares aspects of his story in panels and on stages at First Star academies.

“They are spectacularly successful sessions,” Samuelson said. “Not only do our scholars learn a lot, but he’s so empathic with their own life histories because he is a fellow traveler. He’s just a bit older. He’s a real role model.”

Dreion continues to speak out on the issues facing foster care. Advocacy, he said, is more impactful when it comes from a person who has experienced the system.

“It is the purpose, I believe, why I went through it because it gives so much more substance to my life, to my music, and to my message.”

He champions any movement aimed at “helping parents and children build a home,” he said. “Legislators now know just throwing youth into the foster care system and medicating them, thinking they’re more safe than at home, is the wrong idea.”

Dreion’s advocacy caught the attention of Earth, Wind & Fire front man Philip Bailey, whose Music Is Unity foundation aligns with Dreion’s mission. Dreion now opens for the legendary group on tour, including when they come to The Astro Amphitheater in La Vista on July 16.

“He’s got a beautiful voice, and just the glow around him is very infectious,” Bailey said. “He’s just a beautiful light.”

As for how far Dreion can go, Bailey said, “The sky is the limit.”

Dreion pulled out a classic Earth, Wind & Fire song when it came time for his audition on “The Voice” last year. His rendition of “Shining Star” landed him a chance to work with Snoop Dogg, owner of iconic Death Row Records. Dreion is among several artists featured on a new album from the label dropping in the fall.

Though he never doubted his abilities, the odds were stacked against “a child in North Omaha whose family didn’t have any money or connections,” he said. He credits the people from back home with helping him make it to where he is. That includes his wife, A’lexis. The two married at 18.

“I couldn’t do a thing about the hand I was dealt, but there’s always been something covering me through my entire life story,” he said. “There’s definitely always been somebody there to kind of catch me.”

Though he lives and records on the East Coast and performs around the country, Omaha remains his “foundation.” His fans here include new Mayor John Ewing and First Lady Viv Ewing. At their invitation, he performed at the June 9 inauguration.

Before the Earth, Wind & Fire show in July, Dreion will stop back home for a free June 28 concert as part of Music at Miller Park. It’s a do-over for a show that got rained out two years ago. “I'm pulling out all the stops," he said. He will perform his new single, “Thank You for Loving Me,” from a new album and tour launching in 2026.

He hopes to one day return to launch his own studio and label, with the goal of advancing homegrown talent. That includes performers like himself — artists with talent, grit and determination who just need the showcase to be shining stars in their own right.

“The odds were stacked against me, but I didn’t like being told I couldn’t do something,” he said. “I have a knack for proving people wrong.

UPCOMING

PERFORMANCES

June 28: Music at Miller Park in Omaha 

Free

More info at https://o-pa.org

July 16: Earth, Wind & Fire at The Astro Amphitheater in La Vista

Tickets start at $65

More info at theastrotheater.com

This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press, an independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories in Nebraska that matter. Read the article at: https://flatwaterfreepress.org/from-foster-care-to-snoop-dogg-huge-life-...