Blake Shelton Reveals What Makes ‘The Voice’ Different From Other Singing Shows

Blake Shelton has been through a lot – the death of his brother and father, a divorce from fellow superstar Miranda Lambert, career highs and lows, and the list goes on. Through it all, the one thing that has been consistent is music.

“Music has been a gift on a lot of different levels for me, whether it was singing, songwriting, the instruments, producers — I was just fascinated with music,” Shelton tells ET Canada. “It truly did, at some points in my life, it saved my life.”

Shelton was one of the original cast members on the hit show, The Voice, when it premiered in 2011. For the Oklahoma native, the magic of The Voice is that his involvement goes far beyond the contestant’s short time on stage.

“What makes The Voice special is we actually take time to work with these artists and try to affect change in their ability to be a performer,” explains Shelton.

“I think that we love the fact that the show is about that nurturing process,” adds fellow coach Adam Levine. “The coaching is great because we get to actually effectively help. We get to get in there and actually guide [them] to the Promised Land.”

Shelton will be joined this year by Levine, returning coach Alicia Keys (who was on the show for Season 11 and 12), and Kelly Clarkson, who is making her coaching debut in the upcoming Season 14.

“I’ve known Kelly for about 10 years now,” says Shelton. “We’ve been great friends. Such great friends that she ended up marrying my manager. She is not fun to be in competition with, I can tell you that. It doesn’t make it easier to be Kelly’s friend going into this thing in a competitive nature. She’ll definitely go for the throat.”

Shelton will kick off his Country Music Freaks Tour on Feb. 15, with Trace Adkins, Brett Eldredge and Carly Pearce serving as his opening acts. Dates are available on Shelton’s website.

Season 14 of The Voice kicks off on Feb. 28 at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: Facebook/Blake Shelton