Adam Levine has been sitting in The Voice‘s big red chairs long enough to remember when they seemed downright strange.
“When we started this show, there was no Voice,” Levine tells Billboard. The format had already become a become a major success overseas in Holland, but when the show came to the U.S., even the coaches weren’t sure what they were getting into. “I remember day one we thought, ‘What are these big red goofy chairs and what are we supposed to do?’”
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The Voice is now in its 30th season, and those chairs are one of the most recognizable set pieces in music television — and Levine is back in one of them. For season 30, Levine joins returning coach Kelly Clarkson and first-time coaches Riley Green and Queen Latifah for a new era of The Voice, which includes the Cut Week twist that kicks off on tonight’s episode (Nov. 2). Cut Week will mark the biggest elimination in The Voice history, when each coach will send two singers straight through to Live Shows as five more contestants battle for one remaining spot on each team. Viewers can get in the mix too, because once the top 12 is set, fans can vote via text and TikTok to send one final artist to the Live Shows.
While Levine has been through the process many times before, he says he’s surprised by just how much fun he’s still having. “The chemistry between the four of us is insane,” he says. “You never know with those types of things what it’ll be.”
Levine already knew Clarkson and Queen Latifah, but Green was a new addition to his Voice buddies. The two, however, clicked almost immediately. “We got along kind of from the jump super well,” Levine says. “I love Queen and obviously I love Kelly. So it was just easy and fun.”
The easy chemistry translates into the competition itself, where Levine notes that the four coaches are all fiercely competitive, but without the kind of animosity that can sometimes come with fighting over artists. “We were all really competitive, but in such a respectful way,” he says. “I really respect the guys I’m working with. I love this foursome. It’s really great.”
That doesn’t mean the competition isn’t intense. “We fought hard,” Levine says. “Like, you know, it gets your heart beating fast and you’re competing [at the end of the day]. There’s no doubt about that, but it’s all done with respect and love.”
And then there’s Green, who Levine quickly discovered could dish it right back. “He makes me laugh, man,” Levine says. “That dude is funny.”
The playful dynamic inevitably draws comparison to Levine’s longtime Voice relationship with a different country star: Blake Shelton. Levine isn’t running from the comparison. “Riley actually reminds me of a younger, funnier, better-looking Blake,” Levine jokes. “If Blake was great in all of the other ways that he’s not, that’s Riley Green.”
But while the coaches may be having fun in the red chairs, the artists competing for their teams face a much more serious reality this season, and Levine admits that this new Cut Week curveball is anything but easy.
“It’s never fun to have to let people go, especially in such massive numbers like that,” he says.
His strategy, then, isn’t necessarily about trying to prepare his artists for the possibility of making it all the way to the finale. Instead, Levine wants them to understand the value of the opportunity they’re already experiencing.
“What I tell everybody on my team from the beginning is take your time here. Utilize it to the best of your advantage while you’re on this show,” he says. “Tomorrow could be anyone’s last day.”
That mentality has become important as the show progresses and as Levine gains more experience as a coach. After returning to the show, he says he’s made enough mistakes — and seen enough of what works and what doesn’t — to approach the job differently now.
But one thing hasn’t changed: He wants to be inspired.
For Levine, finding an artist isn’t about chasing a certain genre, sound or demographic. “Talent’s a weird thing,” he says. “I don’t think that it has a genre or style or anything.”
Instead, his criteria is far more simple: “Do I really love this? Do I want to be involved with this based on what I’m hearing?”
“Good is good,” he adds. “That’s kind of what I’m looking for at this point is just to be inspired.”
As for what’s next outside of The Voice, Levine isn’t ready to reveal too much, though he admits he does have some music in the works. When asked whether fans can expect new solo music from him or his band Maroon 5, he offered a deliberately vague update.
“We are working on some things,” he says. “We are in process of making new music and, you know, just figuring out when and where. But the process has begun.”
