People Magazine (Sept. 28th 2015)
The Voice Coaches Ready To Rumble
The stars of the NBC hit chat about music, karaoke night and the deep friendships they’ve formed
When The Voice returns for its ninth season on Sept. 21, the show's four coaches—Adam Levine, 36, Blake Shelton, 39, Gwen Stefani, 45, and Pharrell Williams, 42—will be back on television battling over aspiring singers hoping to catch their big break. "It's not a scripted show," says host and executive producer Carson Daly, 42. "What people enjoy is the chemistry." People's Melody Chiu caught up with the superstars on-set, where they opened up about what exactly goes on behind the scenes of NBC's hit singing competition:
If the four of you had a theme song, what would it be?
SHELTON: "Love Shack" by the B-52s. This is the most loving combination [of coaches]. We have the tightest bond.
LEVINE: The Munsters' theme. Blake's kind of like Herman Munster.
STEFANI: The first thing that came to mind was "Don't You (Forget About Me)." It's my second time coming back, and that song makes me have that feeling of "I'll always have this moment."
When there's downtime on-set, do you all hang out together?
STEFANI: Well, I'm here two hours before everyone else. I love doing glam, but I love sleeping even more. [Sometimes] I just go, "Talk amongst yourselves. I'll be over here." [Laughs]
LEVINE: The trailers are set up so they're facing each other. It's a very communal vibe.
WILLIAMS: We visit each other.
SHELTON: Carson and I usually go back to the trailer compound and have a few drinks. Adam goes back to his trailer and stares at the mirror.
Who would dominate on karaoke night?
WILLIAMS: Probably Blake. When he gets into character, he's really funny.
LEVINE: Blake's so tall and big. He sticks out in any environment. Just his sheer presence alone would be pretty hard to beat.
SHELTON: I'm a one-trick pony. Pharrell could pull a song out of a hat and figure out a way to do it right.
STEFANI: Adam. Because Adam needs to dominate everything, right?
Who has the best taste in music?
LEVINE: Oh man, not Blake.
SHELTON: I'm usually walking around with my phone with '80s music playing. It really irritates Adam.
LEVINE: It's not his taste in music. It's that he thinks he's discovered something that's existed for so long. He'll be like, "Have you heard that song 'Highway to Hell'?" I'm like, "Yeah, Blake. I have. Because I don't live in a cave."
Which coach would you pick to swap lives with for a day?
LEVINE: Probably Pharrell, so I could just be super, super cool for a day. I could wear anything, and it would look cool.
SHELTON: There's a lot of good options, but I would pick Adam because he's married to a supermodel. Need I say more?
STEFANI: I might pick Blake because he has a weird life. He has animals and does country stuff, which would be so different. Adam or Pharrell's life would be kind of like my same life.
WILLIAMS: Blake has a really interesting life, and Adam has the best humor. Gwen is superwarm and loving and ultracool. They're all superheroes in a lot of ways.
If you were auditioning, who would you pick as a coach?
STEFANI: I would want to work with any of them!
SHELTON: Gwen. Have you seen her? If I'm gonna be in a rehearsal room with Pharrell, Adam or Gwen, who the hell do you think I'm gonna pick?
LEVINE: Gwen is a lot more beautiful than Blake. It would be between Gwen and Pharrell. I would probably not choose Blake.
WILLIAMS: It's three really brilliant people, and on top of just being as good as they are at what they do, they couldn't be more down-to-earth.