Where Is Adam Levine on ‘The Voice’ Season 26? Why He’s Absent From the Show After Announcing Return

Adam Levine announced in June 2024 that he would be returning to The Voice , leaving many viewers confused about why he was absent from season 26 just three months later.

Where Is Adam Levine on ‘The Voice’ Season 26?

The reason Adam was absent from season 26 of The Voice is because he will not be returning until season 27 . The season 27 coaches began filming the pre-recorded segments of the show during summer 2024 and the season will air in 2025.

NBC announced Adam’s return on June 5, 2024, while revealing that he would be serving as a coach alongside Kelsea Ballerini, Michael Bublé and John Legend .

“I’m coming back. I’m so excited. I cannot wait,” the Maroon 5 frontman said. “I’m well rested. I’m ready to go. I’m so excited. It’s going to be great and I can’t wait. It’s gonna be awesome. Team Adam is back. I feel bad for other teams. Let’s go! I’m back. Voice fam, here we come.”

Who Are ‘The Voice’ Coaches for Season 26?

Just weeks before announcing the season 27 coaches , NBC revealed the lineup for season 26. The panel features the return of Reba McEntire and Gwen Stefani , along with newcomers Michael and Snoop Dogg .

Why Did Adam Levine Leave ‘The Voice’?

Adam was previously a coach on The Voice for 16 seasons before his departure in 2019. Fans were shocked by Adam’s exit, as he had already been confirmed as a coach for season 17 when he announced that he would not be returning.

Despite his long tenure on the show, Adam struggled in his last three seasons. He had no artists make the finals in season 14, 15 and 16. He was also the target of viewer backlash after a controversial move in season 15 that involved his final two artists in the competition, Reagan Strange and DeAndre Nico .

Both Reagan and DeAndre were in the bottom three, putting them in danger of elimination with one last chance to sing for the instant save. Reagan was under the weather and could not perform her instant save song, but viewers were still able to vote for her to continue on in the competition. Adam advocated for his female team member, which rubbed many viewers the wrong way since they felt like he wasn’t giving enough credit to DeAndre, who did give his last chance performance.

TVLine reported that Adam was becoming hard to work with and claimed that he was “difficult” while pretaping a semifinals segment for season 16 in 2019. Adam had no artists left in the semifinals and reportedly did not want to attend the taping. It was also reported that the singer had a lack of enthusiasm while performing with his fellow coaches at the NBC Upfront around that time.

“Adam had been checked out for a while,” a source told TVLine . “But this was a new low. It was essentially the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“I was ready to not be doing it anymore, I think for a little bit,” he admitted on The Howard Stern Show in October 2019. “I think that when it all kind of naturally happened, I was like, ‘OK, it feels right.’ For better or worse, the moment in which we decided to walk away felt really good. It was the right time for me to go.” He also cited his growing family with wife Behati Prinsloo as part of the reason he wanted to take some time away.

During a fan Q&A on Instagram in 2020, Adam seemed uninterested in returning to the show in the future. “Come back to The Voice ?” one fan asked, to which Adam responded, “No thank you?”

Has Adam Levine Won ‘The Voice’?

Although Adam struggled on The Voice in his most recent seasons as a coach, he has had success in the past. He won the show’s inaugural season with his artist Javier Colon in 2011, then also won season 5 with Tessanne Chin and season 9 with Jordan Smith .

Following his exit, Adam previously returned to the show in May 2021 to perform “Beautiful Mistakes” with Maroon 5 during the season 20 finale. He also appeared during the season 23 finale in May 2023 as part of a goodbye tribute to Blake Shelton, who left the show after 23 seasons as a coach. Adam also acknowledged the show’s 25-season milestone during a 2024 episode.