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Who were the original judges on ‘The Voice?’

Over 20 seasons later, these four have still not been forgotten.

Christina Aguilera sitting on the coaches' chair during season 5 of 'The Voice'.
Photo by Trae Patton/NBC

When a TV show remains on air for as long as The Voice has, cast changes are bound to be made. The reality singing contest premiered in the U.S. in 2011, only half a year after the original, The Voice of Holland, took the world by storm. Since then, musicians of all ages have taken to the stage for over 20 seasons, doing their best to turn the judges’ chairs.

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Don’t get me wrong, the contestants are absolutely the heart of the show. However, it’s impossible to miss how the coaches can influence a season. They all bring something different to the table, be it for their personalities, career experience, or their preferred musical genre. And, of course, how they play off of one another can be a key element to making a season work, so choosing the panel of judges is surely no easy task.

No matter how many seasons The Voice has, and how many times coaches come and go, it’s always nice to look back at the show’s beginning. So, as newcomers get comfortable on coaches’ chairs, and oldtimers exit the show, it’s time to take a trip down memory lane.

Who were the coaches in The Voice season 1?

Blake Shelton The Voice
Image via NBC

In season 1 of The Voice, the coaches were country musician Blake Shelton, singer Christina Aguilera, rapper CeeLo Green, and Maroon 5 vocalist Adam Levine. The four remained in the show until season 3, when Aguilera and Green decided it was time to move on. They both have made appearances in the show since, though, to the delight of longtime viewers.

The other two coaches kept their roles for much longer, with Levine only calling it quits after season 16. For Shelton, the goodbye came in season 23, marking the end of an era for the competition show. With all the original coaches now out of the equation, it’ll be interesting to see how The Voice adapts to the absence.