Blake Shelton’s raunchy song choice for ‘Voice’ audition had coaches in splits — especially Kelly Clarkson

It took Blake Shelton two seconds to pick a racy song for his hypothetical 'Voice' audition—and the panel lost it
PUBLISHED JUL 28, 2025
Blake Shelton in a production still from 'The Voice' (Cover Image Source: Instagram| @blakeshelton)
Blake Shelton in a production still from 'The Voice' (Cover Image Source: Instagram| @blakeshelton)

Former 'Voice' coach Blake Shelton shared the song he would have picked for his Blind Audition on the NBC singing competition. During an November 2019 episode of her talk show 'The Kelly Clarkson Show,' Kelly Clarkson was joined by her fellow coaches John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Shelton. At one point, Clarkson invited the studio audience to put forth any questions they had about the behind-the-scenes of 'The Voice.' Then, one audience member asked the coaches which song they would have selected if they had to audition for the long-running singing competition.

Some took their sweet time to reveal and explain their hypothetical Blind Audition song. However, Shelton didn't waste a single second and picked a risky song by the popular rock band, KISS. At that time, Shelton said,"'Lick It Up' by KISS," which made the other coaches burst into laughter. According to NBC, while shedding light on Shelton's song choice, Carson Daly, the host of 'The Voice,' sarcastically quipped, "Perfect, Perfect." Shortly afterward, Clarkson told Shelton, "You're so stupid." Between the laughs, Stefani said, "He was just waiting to say that, by the way."

On the other hand, Legend shared, "Well, I think about the songs I cover in my show. Like I do 'A Bridge Over Troubled Waters.' Sometimes I do a really interesting version of 'Dancing in the Dark,' the Bruce Springsteen song. So maybe some of those songs that I cover in my shows are the songs that I would do on The Voice." Soon after, Daly chimed in, "He could sing anything, he could sing a nursery rhyme, and chairs would turn."

When Clarkson asked Stefani to name her song, the 'Hollaback Girl' hitmaker said, "That's, I was... my mind actually went blank. I was like, trying to go through my brain. I'm like, I know that this show would not be for me. Like, I am from a garage. Like I'm from.. I'm saying, I'm from a band that was in a garage that worked my way up. Like I can't imagine, I'm not, I can't imagine." Then, Clarkson told Stefani, "You know what's so funny on the song, we just sang 'Neon Moon', I'm not kidding, I've been telling everyone backstage, we love country music and grew up on that song, but you were my favorite voice on it." In her response, Stefani exclaimed, "Oh my god! I love you!" 

Clarkson further added, "No, because it is." to which Stefani responded, "Honestly, everybody here, I always feel like, I'm between them, like he's [Blake] actually the best singer I've ever witness sing in my entire life. I always feel like I've to keep up with you guys." Then, Clarkson told Stefani that she would instantly turn her chair for her. At last, Clarkson disclosed that she would pick a song that she wasn't allowed to perform during her time on 'American Idol' Season 1 and said, "I really did 'wanna sing 'Why' by Annie Lennox. And no one would let us sing their songs in the first season of Idol, so I didn't get to. But I would sing 'Why' by Annie Lennox. That's one of my favorite songs."

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