The twenty-first season of the American reality television series The Voice premiered on September 20, 2021, on NBC. Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend returned as coaches for their twenty-first, eighth, and sixth seasons, respectively. Ariana Grande made her first appearance as a coach this season, replacing Nick Jonas. Meanwhile, Carson Daly returned for his twenty-first season as host.
Girl Named Tom, consisting of siblings Bekah, Caleb, and Joshua Liechty, was named the winner of the season, marking Kelly Clarkson's fourth win as a coach; the first instance of a group act winning the show; and the second time that the first (aired) act to audition would go on to win the entire season, following Todd Tilghman's win in season 18. Additionally, with Wendy Moten being named the runner-up, she is the oldest finalist in the show's run, and (until Alexia Jayy's victory in season 29) the highest-placing African-American female singer, along with Toneisha Harris (also from season 18), in the show's history.
The 21st season was also notable when Sasha Allen of Jim & Sasha Allen not only became the American version’s third openly transgender artist (after season 14's Angel Bonilla and season 17's Dane Mautone of Dane & Stephanie) and second transgender male to turn a chair on the show, but also became the American version's first transgender artist to have progressed to the Live shows.
This is also the last season to have studio versions of performances.
Panelists Coaches and host In March 2021, NBC announced there would be a change in the coaches for this season. Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend all returned for their twenty-first, eighth, and sixth seasons, respectively, with Ariana Grande making her first appearance as a coach in this season. Carson Daly returned for his twenty-first season as the host.
Advisors In August 2021, the advisors for the Battles were revealed, who were: Jason Aldean for Team Kelly, Camila Cabello for Team Legend, Kristin Chenoweth for Team Ariana and Dierks Bentley for Team Blake.
Mega mentor Ed Sheeran serves as the mega mentor for this season during the Knockouts. He was previously a Battle advisor for Team Christina in season 5.
Teams + Teams color key Winner Eliminated in the Live playoffs Runner-up Eliminated but named for the Voice Comeback Third place Stolen in the Knockouts round Fourth place Eliminated in the Knockouts round Fifth place Stolen in the Battles round Eliminated in the Live shows Eliminated in the Battles round
+ Coaching teams Coach Top 48 Artists Kelly Clarkson Girl Named Tom Hailey Mia Jeremy Rosado Gymani Katie Rae Aaron Hines Holly Forbes Xavier Cornell The Cunningham Sisters Kinsey Rose Jershika Maple Carolina Alonso Parker McKay Wyatt Michael John Legend Jershika Maple Joshua Vacanti Shadale Samuel Harness David Vogel Samara Brown Paris Winningham BrittanyBree Sabrina Dias Jonathan Mouton Janora Brown Keilah Grace KJ Jennings Jack Rogan Ariana Grande Jim & Sasha AllenHolly Forbes Ryleigh Plank Bella DeNapoli Vaughn Mugol Raquel Trinidad Katie Rae David Vogel Manny Keith Katherine Ann Mohler Hailey Mia Sophia Bromberg KCK3 Chavon Rodgers Blake Shelton Wendy Moten Paris Winningham Lana Scott Peedy Chavis Libianca Hailey Green Berritt Haynes Jonathan Mouton Carson Peters Manny Keith Tommy Edwards Clint Sherman The Joy Reunion Kaitlyn Velez
Blind auditions The blind auditions began airing on September 20, 2021. In each audition, an artist sings their piece in front of the coaches whose chairs are facing the audience. If a coach is interested to work with the artist, they will press their button to face the artist. If a singular coach presses the button, the artist automatically becomes part of their team. If multiple coaches turn, they will compete for the artist, who will decide which team they will join. Each coach has one "block" to prevent another coach from getting an artist, with only one block permitted to be used per blind audition. Each coach ends up with 12 artists by the end of the blind auditions, creating a total of 48 artists advancing to the battles.
The coaches performed a mash-up of "Hold On, I'm Comin'" (John Legend & Blake Shelton) and "Respect" (Kelly Clarkson & Ariana Grande) at the start of the show.
This is the first instance that a debuting coach (Ariana Grande) does not have any four-chair turns on their team, as Shakira, Usher, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, and Nick Jonas have at least one four-chair turners on their teams on their respective debut season.
+ Blind auditions color key Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button Artist defaulted to this coach's team Artist selected to join this coach's team Artist was eliminated with no coach pressing their button ✘ Coach pressed "I WANT YOU" button, but was blocked by another coach from getting the artist Blocked by Kelly Blocked by John Blocked by Ariana Blocked by Blake
Episode 1 (September 20) Among the contestants in this episode were Jonathan Mouton, who previously competed on an episode of I Can See Your Voice; and Katherine Ann Mohler, who previously competed on the eleventh season of America's Got Talent as part of the vocal group OneVoice, until their elimination in the Judge Cuts.
+ First blind auditions results Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choices Kelly John Ariana Blake 1 Girl Named Tom 20–26 Pettisville, Ohio "Helplessly Hoping" 2 Katie Rae 35 Sacramento, California "The Bones" – 3 Peedy Chavis 19 Lawrenceville, Georgia "Heartbreak Hotel" – – 4 Jonathan Mouton 30 Los Angeles, California "Leave the Door Open" – – 5 Marco Salvador 15 Miami, Florida "Bailamos" – – – – 6 Katherine Ann Mohler 22 Memphis, Tennessee "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – – 7 Jack Rogan 18 Rochester, New York "The House of the Rising Sun" – – 8 Kinsey Rose 35 Louisville, KY / Nashville, TN "Cowboy Take Me Away" – – ✘ 9 Vaughn Mugol 27 Laguna, Philippines / Beaumont, TX "The A Team" – 10 Gracie Nourbash 18 Glenview, Illinois "Control" – – – – 11 Wendy Moten 56 Memphis, Tennessee "We Can Work It Out" ✘
Episode 2 (Sept. 21) Among the contestants in this episode was Hailey Green, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully in season 19.
+ Second blind auditions results Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choices Kelly John Ariana Blake 1 Lana Scott 28 Chesapeake, Virginia "Hole in the Bottle" – – 2 Samuel Harness 26 Fort Wayne, Indiana "Here Without You" – 3 Carolina Alonso 23 Reno, Nevada "El Triste" – – – 4 Chavon Rodgers 23 Ada / Tulsa, Oklahoma "Drivers License" – – 5 Serenity Arce 14 Jupiter, Florida "I See Red" – – – – 6 Joshua Vacanti 28 Lockport, New York "Into the Unknown" – ✘ – 7 Hailey Green 15 St. Martin, Mississippi "Home" – – – 8Jim & Sasha Allen 57 & 19 Newtown, Connecticut "Leaving on a Jet Plane" – – 9 Paris Winningham 32 Jacksonville, Florida "Superstition" – – 10 Camryn B 21 Mount Shasta, California "Hometown Glory" – – – – 11 Gymani 23 East Point, Georgia "POV"
Episode 3 (Sept. 27) Among this episode's auditionees were Jeremy Rosado and Raquel Trinidad, who previously competed on the eleventh and seventeenth seasons of American Idol; respectively, Carson Peters, who previously appeared on season 1 of Little Big Shots; and Samara Brown, the sister of The Voice season 3 contestant Amanda Brown.
+ Third blind auditions results Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choices Kelly John Ariana Blake 1 Raquel Trinidad 23 Tampa, Florida "I Wish" – 2 The Joy Reunion 39–42 Redlands, California "Boondocks" – – 3 Jasmine Mills 28 Springfield, Virginia "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" – – – – 4 Hailey Mia 13 Clifton, New Jersey "You Broke Me First" – – 5 Jeremy Rosado 29 Tampa, Florida "Here Comes Goodbye" – – 6 Carson Peters 17 Piney Flats, Tennessee "Tulsa Time" 7 Keilah Grace 15 New York City, New York "Never Tear Us Apart" – 8 Bubba 26 Buffalo, New York "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" – – – – 9 Samara Brown 32 The Bronx, New York "Sweet Thing" – – 10 Lucas O'Reilly 20 Newport, Rhode Island "Carolina in My Mind" – – – – 11 Holly Forbes 30 Catlettsburg, Kentucky "Rocket Man" ✘
Episode 4 (Sept. 28)
+ Fourth blind auditions results Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choices Kelly John Ariana Blake 1 Bella DeNapoli 22 West Islip, New York "Damaged" – 2 David Vogel 23 Valhalla, New York "Breathin" – – – 3 Janora Brown 22 Wingate, North Carolina "Angel of Mine" – – 4 Kaitlyn Velez 21 Copiague, New York "Please Don't Go" – – 5 Berritt Haynes 19 Pell City, Alabama "Mercy" – – – 6 Clint Sherman 25 Heath, Texas "Brown Eyed Girl" – – – 7 Kayla Lilly 22 Quarryville, Pennsylvania "Never Enough" – – – – 8 The Cunningham Sisters 15 & 14 Hamilton, Ohio "Never Alone" – –
Episode 5 (October 4) Among this episode's auditionees was Austin Percario, who previously competed on the thirteenth season of American Idol. + Fifth blind auditions results Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choices Kelly John Ariana Blake 1 Ryleigh Plank 20 Fort Myers, Florida "Anyone" – – 2 Jershika Maple 24 Killeen, Texas "Can You Stand the Rain" – – 3 Manny Keith 31 Miami, Florida "Break My Heart" – – – 4 Austin Percario 25 Los Angeles, California "This Town" – – – – 5 KJ Jennings 21 Austin, Texas "Put Your Records On" – – 6 Sabrina Dias 26 Newark, New Jersey "The Girl From Ipanema" – – – 7 Xavier Cornell 17 Los Angeles, California "Teenage Dream" – – – 8 Libianca 20 Minneapolis, Minnesota "Good Days" – – 9 Jared Brasher 26 Huntsville, Alabama "Drunk on Your Love" – – – – 10 Sophia Bromberg 16 San Rafael, California "Heather" – 11 Wyatt Michael 24 Fredericksburg, Virginia "Mack the Knife" – – 12 Alexandra Stojack 20 Cincinnati, Ohio "The Way I Am" – – – – 13 BrittanyBree 26 Dallas, Texas "Call Out My Name"
Episode 6 (October 5)
+ Sixth blind auditions results Order Artist Age Hometown Song Coach's and artist's choices Kelly John Ariana Blake 1 Aaron Hines 28 Charleston, South Carolina "Heartbreak Anniversary" 2 KCK3 17–26 Brandon, Mississippi "no tears left to cry" – – – 3 Tommy Edwards 27 Bigfork, Montana "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" – Team full 4 Shadale 29 Douglasville, Georgia "That's What I Like" Team full 5 Joe McGuinness 43 Atlanta, Georgia "Midnight Rider" – Team full 6 Parker McKay 30 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania "Slow Hands"
Battles The battles began airing on October 11, 2021. The advisors for this round were Jason Aldean for Team Kelly, Camila Cabello for Team Legend, Kristin Chenoweth for Team Ariana, and Dierks Bentley for Team Blake.
In this round, the coaches pit two of their artists in a singing match and then select one of them to advance to the next round. Losing artists may be "stolen" by another coach, becoming new members of their team, or can be saved by their coach, remaining a part of their original team. Multiple coaches can attempt to steal an artist, resulting in a competition for the artist, who will ultimately decide which team they will go to. Additionally, their original coach can compete for their artist if they attempt to save them. There will be no four-way knockout in this season meaning that the artists saved by their coach will go to the regular Knockouts.
At the end of this round, eight artists will remain on each team; six will be battle winners, and one from a steal and a save, respectively. In total, 32 artists advance to the knockouts.
It was revealed that for the Live Playoffs Wildcard, one previously eliminated artist from each team has the chance to be voted via Twitter to earn a place in the Top 13 (see Voice Comeback).