ALL FOUR MUSICIAN COACHES OF NBC'S "THE VOICE" TO RETURN FOR NEW SEASON OF HIT VOCAL COMPETITION SERIES
Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton Set to Resume Series in Mid-season
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - June 30, 2011 - All four musician coaches of NBC's "The Voice" - Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton - will return next season when the vocal competition series resumes in mid-season on Mondays (8-10 p.m. ET). The announcement was made by Paul Telegdy, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, NBC and Universal Media Studios.
"Our fantastic coaches were integral to the tremendous success of 'The Voice' this year and we are thrilled that they are all returning," said Telegdy. "We look forward to building season two and making 'The Voice' an even greater experience for fans."
"The Voice" is an innovative vocal competition series modeled after Holland's top-rated vocal talent discovery show, "The Voice of Holland." The series is hosted by Carson Daly and features the musician coaches working through the various phases of the competition with only the most talented vocalists.
Five-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and actress Aguilera ("Back to Basics," "Burlesque") first achieved prominence as a singer after the release of her album "Christina Aguilera" in 1999, which sold over 17 million copies worldwide and yielded such hits as "Genie in a Bottle," "What a Girl Wants" and "Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)." As a result, she won her first Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her rendition of "Genie in a Bottle." Aguilera's second album, "Mi Reflejo," earned her a Latin Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Album.
Later, Aguilera teamed with Mya, Lil' Kim and Pink to perform their version of "Lady Marmalade" as a single from the feature film "Moulin Rouge" that soared to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts for five weeks. Each performer received a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the song. Aguilera's next album, "Stripped," gave the world the hit singles "Dirty," "Beautiful" (which won her another Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance), "Fighter" and "The Voice Within." She also toured with Justin Timberlake in 2003 on the Justified/Stripped tour.
Among Aguilera's other albums are "Back to Basics," "My Kind of Christmas" and "Bionic." Also included in her many hit singles are "Hurt," "Candyman" and "Ain't No Other Man" (which earned her another Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocalist), "Not Myself Tonight" and "You Lost Me." She has performed numerous times on the Grammy Awards and has hosted NBC's "Saturday Night Live." Aguilera was also the only artist under 30 years of age to make Rolling Stone Magazine's list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2010, Aguilera added a new role to her list of accomplishments as an actress. Last November, she starred in her first feature film, "Burlesque," opposite Cher and Stanley Tucci. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for her Original Song, "Bound to You," which she co wrote and performed.
Green -- who is better known to his fans as Cee Lo -- won a Grammy this year for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Forget You" (a/k/a "F�k You"). Green, a rap singer, songwriter and record producer, first became recognized as a member of the hip-hop group Goodie Mob (which released the album "World Party"), and later launched a critically hailed solo career. He also formed the group Gnarls Barkley with deejay-producer Danger Mouse. Among Green's best-known hits are the singles "Closet Freak," "I'll Be Around," "Crazy (by Gnarls Barkley) and "Forget You" (a/k/a "F--k You").
Green's albums include "Cee Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections," "Cee Lo Green�Is the Soul Machine," "Closet Freak: The Best of Cee Lo Green the Soul Machine," "Forget You," and his most recent, "The Lady Killer." He also collaborated with Danger Mouse for the album "St. Elsewhere" (his greatest-selling album). Green currently is working on a new project with Jazze Pha as well as an upcoming new album with Goodie Mod.
As the front man of Maroon 5, Levine is the primary songwriter of the band and a guitar player, whose talents give Maroon 5 their signature sound. Capturing their first of three Grammy Awards as "Best New Artist" of 2005 and going on to sell more than 15 million albums worldwide, Maroon 5 won over fans and critics alike with the hybrid rock/R&B sound they introduced on their debut album "Songs About Jane." They followed up with the double platinum album, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long," which included hits like "Makes Me Wonder" and "If I Never See Your Face Again."
In September 2010, the band released their third studio album, "Hands All Over," which was produced by studio legend Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Most recently, Maroon 5 received a Grammy nomination for "Misery," the debut single off "Hands All Over" in the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The nod marks the group's seventh Grammy nomination overall and fourth in that category. Maroon 5's releases have gone gold and platinum in over 35 countries around the world, including "Hands All Over," which was certified gold by the RIAA in December 2010.
Shelton, the reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year, is currently #1 on the Billboard Country chart for the third week in a row with his smash hit "Honey Bee" off "Red River Blue," coming out July 12. "Honey Bee" is off his eighth studio album and tops the chart with nearly one million in digital single sales, holding the record for the fastest-selling digital single to be certified gold by the R.I.A.A. by a country male. "Honey Bee" marks Shelton's fourth consecutive #1 hit following "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking," "All About Tonight" and "Hillbilly Bone." His CD, "LOADED: The Best of Blake Shelton," debuted in the Top 10 on the country charts, adding Shelton into an elite group of artists who have charted three records in one year. Shelton has nine #1 hits and has not had a single peak outside the Top Ten since 2007.
Shelton made his debut with the single "Austin," released from his self-titled first album that later became gold-certified. The song occupied the top spot on Billboard's Hot Country Songs charts for five weeks. Shelton's second album, "The Dreamer," and his third, "Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill," also were certified gold.
Shelton's other popular albums include "Pure BS," "Startin' Fires," "Hillbilly Bone," "All About Tonight" and "Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton" (his first compilation album). The albums yielded such hit singles as "Ol' Red" (considered Shelton's signature song), "All Over Me," "The Baby," "Some Beach," "Goodbye Time," "Nobody But Me" (which appeared on the television movie "The Christmas Blessing"), "Home," "The More I Drink," "Don't Make Me," "She Wouldn't Be Gone," "I'll Just Hold On," "Hillbilly Bone," "All About Tonight," and more recently, "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking." In addition, Shelton's duet with Trace Adkins, "Hillbilly Bone," reached #1 last year and won every country collaboration award from the CMA Awards, ACM Awards, CMT Awards and ACA Award shows. He also collaborated with his Grammy-winning wife, Miranda Lambert, for their #1 hit single "Home." This year he scored the most CMT Award wins with "Male Video of the Year" and "Best Web Video of the Year."
Last fall, Shelton won six awards, one of which was the prestigious Male Vocalist of the Year at the "44th Annual CMA Awards." He also won awards for Vocal Event of the Year from the ACM Awards, Musical Event of the Year from the CMA Awards, Collaborative Video of the Year (with Adkins) from the CMT Awards, Music Video of the Year from the ACA Awards and Music Video: Male from the ACA Awards. He also is a Grammy nominee and was inducted into the prestigious Grand Ole Opry.
"The Voice" is a presentation of Mark Burnett's One Three Inc., Talpa Content USA, Inc. and Warner Horizon Television. The series is created by John de Mol, who executive-produces along with Burnett, Audrey Morrissey and Stijn Bakkers.
For contestant blogs, embeddable clips and full episodes of "The Voice," please visit NBC.com's official show site: http://www.nbc.com/TheVoice.
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