Kelly Clarkson is having a little fun with her fellow coaches on “The Voice” season 29. During a break in the Blind Auditions for “The Voice: Battle of Champions,” the singer and four-time winning coach jokingly presented Adam Levine and John Legend with a tongue-in-cheek “gift” aimed at their struggles landing country artists. A gag that quickly turned into one of the night’s funniest moments backstage on “The Voice” season 29.
A Gag Gift From Kelly
During Night 2 of the Blind Auditions, it was discussed that Kelly Clarkson has the strongest ties to the country music scene. Her fellow coaches, Adam and John, have been trying hard to get country artists of their own, but without a lot of success.
That is where Clarkson was kind enough to offer them a few tips, sort of.
During a break between artists, the three coaches were backstage chatting. That is when Kelly gave the men a gift. What was it?
“Since I’m crushing it, and I knew I would, I got y’all something,” Kelly said. She then pulled out some books, as she explained, “It’s ‘The Voice: Battle of Champions Country Music Coaching for Dum-Dums.’ You’re welcome!”
Not gonna lie, I’m sure they both would pay good money for that book if it were real.
The guys went along with it, as Adam pretended to read from the book, saying, “Chapter One: Don’t Even Bother.” Clarkson added, “‘I’m Going to Crush You’ is Chapter Two.”
While Legend and Levine may be behind in Triple Turn wins and country artists on their teams, they certainly aren’t out. There is plenty of time on “The Voice” 2026, so anything can happen.
Adam Blames Blake Shelton
Levine thinks he has no luck with country artists on “The Voice,” and the reason for that is former coach and nemesis, Blake Shelton.
During the first night of Blind Auditions, we saw 14-year-old AJ Robinson perform “Watermelon Moonshine” by Lainey Wilson. Legend was the only one who hit his button for the teenager.
Adam’s reasoning? He said he’s reluctant to throw his hat in the ring for any country singer. “Blake Shelton has ruined me. He wounded me deep down in my soul,” he said.
For years, we all saw Levine lose out on country artists to Blake. It seems Legend had too, adding he was “scarred from many years of trying to get a country artist on my team…not that I’m bitter!”
Clarkson seems to be the only one unbothered by the Shelton legacy, but that might be because she has turned into the default go-to country coach.
“The Voice” season 29 airs on Mondays at 9/8c on NBC. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
