In May 2019, NBC put out an official press release stating that all four of The Voice's coaches at that time — Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, and Adam Levine — would return for Season 17. But then, just two weeks later, it was abruptly announced that Levine, who had coached 16 seasons without a break since the series premiered in 2011, would not be returning after all. Shelton, Levine's buddy on the panel, revealed on X (then known as Twitter) that he'd only learned about Levine's resignation the day before this bombshell announcement.
But now, in another seemingly out-of-nowhere bombshell announcement, Levine has revealed that he's returning to The Voice for Season 27. "Team Adam is back!" he declared in a video post Tuesday afternoon, saying he was "nervous" but "well-rested" and "ready to go."
The Maroon 5 singer will be joined on the spring 2025 panel by Kelsea Ballerini, who filled in for ailing coach Kelly Clarkson in Season 20; Michael Bublé, who's making his coaching debut on Season 26 this fall; and regular on/off coach John Legend. Interestingly, Legend's first season (and the only season he ever won) was Levine's last.
It's not totally clear right now whether Levine has only signed on for one season, or if The Voice's prodigal son is coming home for good. In a 2017 interview with Music Times' Lyndsey Parker, when asked if he'd ever take a temporary hiatus from the show, Levine had bluntly answered, "I will tell you this much: I will never take a season off. If I take a season off, it will be for every season thereafter, in perpetuity, for the rest of my life."
When Levine quit The Voice five years ago, the show's official Instagram stated, "We're going to miss Adam, but The Voice is family and with family it's 'see you soon,' never 'goodbye'" — seemingly leaving the door open for Levine if he ever had a change of heart. However, a source with knowledge of the situation told Parker at that time, "No one behind the scenes wants him to return."
Back then, it had become abundantly clear that Levine was no longer happy on the show. His once-adorable banter with Shelton had become testy and sometimes even nasty, and ever since he threw his Season 15 contestant DeAndre Nico under the bus on the most bizarre Voice results night ever, diehard viewers had been rallying for him to be fired.
Levine's waning popularity as a coach became especially evident during his final season (which culminated in the series' lowest-rated finale ever at that point), when most of Team Adam was wiped out during the Cross-Battles and was entirely eliminated in the top 13 week, leaving Levine with no contestants during the last two weeks of live competition. A source told TV Line that Levine had become frustrated by the show's new rules, which no longer ensured that each coach would advance to the Playoffs with the same number of team members, and that he’d become "very difficult" and no longer wanted to participate once he had no more singers in the game.
Very telling was Levine's demeanor when the four coaches sang a Rolling Stones medley at the Upfronts in May 2019, shortly before Levine quit the show. While Shelton, Legend, and Clarkson appeared to be pouring themselves into the industry showcase performance, bringing high energy and interacting with each other and the audience, Levine was unenthusiastic, for the most part motionless and frowning. A YouTube video of the performance was later taken down after it was spammed with negative comments. TV Line reported that NBC’s powers-that-be were "furious," and one Upfronts eyewitness told Parker, "[Levine] sang, but he made it so clear he did not want to be there. It was disgusting. ... He made it impossible not to hate him."
While Levine will have been off The Voice for six years by the time he returns, he never left the NBC family entirely. Songland, a songwriting competition for which he was the executive producer, aired on NBC for two seasons, in 2019 and 2020, and Maroon 5 performed twice on The Voice, including on last year's Season 23 finale for Shelton's emotional farewell. Shelton also made it seem like he was leaving The Voice for good, but at this rate, a Levine/Shelton Voice reunion can't be ruled out.
In the meantime, The Voice Season 26 will premiere this coming September with Bublé, new coach Snoop Dogg, Reba McEntire, and Shelton's wife, Gwen Stefani, sitting in those big red chairs.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
