Former ‘Voice’ coach backs John Legend in surprise cameo after he clashes with Kelly Clarkson over contestant
With Reba McEntire no longer occupying a turning chair on ‘The Voice,’ the country throne is up for grabs. 'The Voice' Season 29 kicked off on February 23, and from the jump, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a polite sing-off. Within minutes, the coaches began competing. The moment that caused the spark? A contestant named Julia Golden walked onstage, bringing a country flavor that immediately set off territorial alarms. And that’s when John Legend casually tossed out a line that felt anything but casual. “We don’t have a pure country artist on this dais here,” he pointed out.
Then he added, “Kelly believes that she's entitled to every country artist.” Kelly Clarkson didn’t blink. She laughed and shot back, “I don’t feel that. I know that.” Kelly has ties to the genre, not just musically but personally. She was previously married to Brandon Blackstock, the late stepson of Reba McEntire. Over the years, she’s also performed alongside Reba, so there’s history there. And when John decided to stir the pot even more, he went big. Instead of just arguing his case, he got backup. John began, carefully building his case, “Speaking of Reba McEntire, who's a fantastic coach on this show. The Queen, you might say, of country music, I feel like she would have something to say about me.”
A pre-recorded message from the Queen herself then appeared on the screen. Reba, smiling warmly into the camera, addressed the burning question: Can John coach a country artist? Her answer came fast and clear: “Heck yeah. Wish he’d coach me. He's absolutely fantastic. He's a genius. He can do anything. He plays, he sings, he mentors—I know. I’m the Queen of Country Music and I endorse John Legend. I approve this message.” Kelly then called Reba and expressed, "I love you so much, but I hate that video." But here’s the twist. Despite the endorsement, Julia still chose Team Kelly. That decision didn’t just hand Kelly a strong artist. It fueled her mission, especially with Blake Shelton absent this season. In a video posted online on February 27, Kelly didn’t mince words.
She stated, “Oh I’m very excited to have country artists on here, and I’m gonna fight like hell for them.” John teased her about it, “You used to fight Blake all the time for country artists, Blake would always get them. And now’s your chance. You can out-country us, probably.” Kelly herself admitted, “This is my first season that I’ve been on and Shelton isn’t here, so my strategy is just to gather all those country artists on my team that would have passed me up had he been here.”
