Blake Shelton and Adam Levine are hitting back and dishing out the blame when it comes to why past winners of The Voice haven’t gone on to have huge careers. The twosome, who have appeared on all 13 seasons of the NBC show since it first began in 2011, lashed out at record labels in a new interview, claiming it was them who have “destroyed” the careers of the artists who have won the show over the years.
Adam and Blake denied that it’s theirs or any of their fellow coach’s fault that past winners have largely failed to make an impact in the music world over the past six years, firmly placing the blame on the record labels and executives who make the big decisions regarding the careers after the show ends.
“We work with these artists and give them this tremendous workshop and get them to the end of the show, and I think the work that we do on the show is amazing,” Adam recently told Parade when asked why Voice winners haven’t seen the same musical success as stars from other shows, such as American Idol’s Grammy winners including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, or even Season 13 coach Jennifer Hudson.
Levine then continued to shift the blame, claiming that The Voice “gives these guys this incredible platform,” including “a lot of exposure and air time.”
“Once we pass the torch,” he continued, “it is the record label that completely destroys that.”
Blake Shelton also put the blame firmly on those guiding the artist’s careers after the show ends. The country star pointed out that the two most recent acts who have won the show before he took home the crown with Chloe Kohanski this year haven’t even released their debut albums yet.
“Everyone single of those guys have fans and [the record label] manages to take a gimme and completely ignore it and do it the wrong way,” Shelton said, bluntly adding, “it is their fault.”
The Voice’s difficulty in producing credible stars in the music world has long been a criticism of the NBC series, though it sounds like when Kelly Clarkson joins the show when it returns to screens in February that she’s planning to change all that.
The star, who shot to fame after she won the first ever season of American Idol back in 2001, revealed earlier this year that she’s actually not interested in winning The Voice herself and will focus on molding a musician who will have a successful career after the series ends.
Back in November, Clarkson told Redbook that she has no interest in beating out Blake, Adam, and returning coach Alicia Keys on Season 14.
“I’ve already warned both Adam and Blake that winning is not my biggest concern,” the “Love So Soft” singer said during a cover feature with the magazine last month, pointing out that The Voice hasn’t managed to produce credible stars in the same way its rival talent searches like American Idol have in the past.
“I want to find someone who has incredible talent and really work with that person,” Kelly, who’s already filmed the upcoming blind audition rounds, continued of her upcoming stint as a coach after appearing on the NBC series as an adviser in the past.
“It would be amazing to look back in a decade and see this artist have a huge, successful career that I was a part of,” Clarkson added of her big plans for Season 14 when she sits alongside Shelton, Levine, and Keys.
The Voice Season 14 is set to premiere on NBC on February 26.