‘The Voice': Blake Shelton Admits He Had Rock Aspirations
The Blind Auditions for Season 18 of The Voice launched on Monday (Feb. 24), with returning coaches Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend; plus new coach Nick Jonas (who replaced last season's Gwen Stefani).
The evening was full of interesting surprises, but perhaps none quite as interesting as 50-year-old Todd Michael Hall, who strutted confidently on stage with long hair and a searing vocal range, which he put to good use on Foreigner's wailing '80s hit "Juke Box Hero." It's safe to say that this kind of classic rock has not hit the Voice stage (or any stage, really) lately, so all the coaches took incredulous notice.
Legend and Shelton turned their chairs, and it was clear an odd battle was about to take place, but Shelton cleared things up immediately in his favor...with the shocking admission he wished he'd gone for a rock career instead of country.
"The only reason that I didn't choose rock music is because I sound like this," Shelton confessed, adding that his first love has always been "hair bands."
To wit? "When I was a kid, the first two albums that I bought were Twisted Sister, and Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever," Shelton revealed. "And the third album that I bought was Ratt, Round and Round, and it was a cassette tape with one of them plastic deals."
For what it's worth, "Round and Round" is a single, not an album; off of Ratt's 1984 debut full length Out of the Cellar—but that little bit of administrative detail didn't dissuade Hall from choosing Shelton as his coach.
"I just happen to be a little bit of a nerd for that '80s hair band stuff," Shelton crowed, after terming Hall "the most exciting artist I've gotten on my team in a long time." The country singer even went so far as to post a little tribute to his rock passion on his social media.
We'll be following along each week to see how things progress on the show, so be sure to check to see how all your favorites fare as the coaches build their teams.
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