One of the Most Successful Pop Stars Ever Is Returning to ‘The Voice,’ Giving Fans a Reason To Finally Care

Kelly Clarkson‘s return to The Voice is the exact update the series needs. With Clarkson returning to compete against veteran judges John Legend and Adam Levine in a special Battle of Champions season, viewers can expect a return to form for the vocal competition series.

With Season 28 set to premiere in September and Season 29 currently in production, there is no slowing down the vocal competition series. Clarkson will be the perfect balance between Levine’s strong competitive drive and Legend’s laid-back demeanor in Battle of Champions. Her positive energy and infectious sense of humor always make for entertaining viewing, and her vocal abilities are indisputable. This is the right moment to bring Clarkson’s brand of enthusiastic cheer back to The Voice, especially facing off against coaches who have already won the series themselves. It is guaranteed that Battle of Champions will bring back the competitive dynamic that made the series special in the first place, and Clarkson is the perfect coach to balance the mix.

‘The Voice’ Is In Need of Seasoned Coaches

Clarkson’s initial departure came after she took a brief hiatus for Season 22 before returning for one last season before she turned her attention away from the vocal competition series and towards moving her daytime talk show series The Kelly Clarkson Show to New York City. Clarkson’s exit occurred at the same time that the series suffered the core loss of Blake Shelton after Season 23, who was the one remaining of the original coaches who had been with the series since the first season. Since then, The Voice has struggled to find the right balance between seasoned coaches and exciting newcomers, as the line-up of incoming talent needs time to develop rivalries in the red chairs. Season 28 will premiere on September 22 with returning coaches Michael Bublé, Reba McEntire, Niall Horan, and Snoop Dogg.

Each judge for the upcoming season is a skilled vocalist and entertainment professional in their own right. But each of them is relatively green when it comes to coaching on The Voice. One of the best parts of the series is the competitiveness between the coaches, and, in the past, rivalries could span years. Clarkson and Shelton were known for their bratty exchanges on stage, and the friendly competitiveness was something many fans of the competition looked forward to season after season. While the current age of new coaches needs time to build up relationships and rivalries, debuting a new version of the show that reunites returning champions like Clarkson, Levine, and Legend is exactly what the viewers have been craving.

‘Battle of Champions’ Will Showcase the Best of ‘The Voice’

NBC announced that Battle of Champions will be a revamp of the program the audience knows and loves, with an update to the format and new rules that will bring even more excitement to the gameplay. A new twist has been added, where the coaches will be given the opportunity to compete for special advantages when it airs in the spring of 2026. CeeLo Green, a coach from the original season, will return to the series to judge the In-Season All-Star Competition, where returning artists from each team will compete for the chance to help the coaches win two places in the finale.

The series’ ability to innovate while remaining true to its core value of platforming the best vocalists at every stage in the competition is one of its strengths. Bringing in new rules and different incentives will provide exciting new attention-grabbing twists to the series, while the familiarity of the seasoned coaches squaring off against each other will be exactly what the audience has been missing. Clarkson will perfectly balance Levine’s rockstar intensity and Legend’s crooner charisma, as they all engage in the familiar competition of wooing the best vocalists to their teams. Though Season 28 continues the tradition of bringing back recent winners and competitive coaches to square off against each other, like McEntire and Horan, who faced each other in Season 24, or Snoop and Bublé, who challenged each other on Season 26, having veteran coaches return makes Battle of Champions exactly what The Voice viewership has been asking for.

Season 28 of The Voice premieres Monday, September 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.