‘The Voice’: Victor Solomon Leaves Judges Speechless With Cover of John Legend’s ‘Glory’

Season 20 of The Voice is already starting off on the right note, literally. In a sneak peek of the reality competition’s Season 20 premiere, which will air on Monday night on NBC, contestant Victor Solomon blows the coaches away with a rousing rendition of Common and John Legend‘s “Glory,” as Entertainment Tonight Canada noted. His performance even leads to a standing ovation from Legend himself, as well as Nick Jonas and Blake Shelton.

As seen in the sneak peek, shortly after Solomon began his take on “Glory,” Shelton immediately turned his chair around in an effort to have the singer join his team. The country singer was soon followed by both Legend and Jonas, who were also moved by the performance. Solomon then shared some things about himself with the coaches, including the fact that he’s 22 years old and that he attends North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, a public HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities). Shelton shared his surprise over hearing Solomon’s age, as he said that the singer has an “old man voice” (in the best possible way).

The funniest part about his performance may have been the fact that Shelton did not catch on that Solomon was actually singing one of Legend’s songs. When coach Kelly Clarkson asked the “God’s Country” singer who originally sings the song, he replied, “It makes me think of Jesus.” Clarkson, in turn, joked, “Well, he has played Jesus,” in reference to Legend’s turn in Jesus Christ Superstar. She then informed him that the person who wrote the song was sitting right next to her i.e. Legend. Jonas then added, “John, let’s just clarify, this is your Oscar-winning song.” Legend indeed clarified that Solomon was singing his song, and then explained exactly why the singer’s rendition made him turn his chair.

“I grew up in the church. I grew up singing Gospel music,” Legend said. “And when we wrote that song, it was meant to evoke the hymns that we grew up listening to and the songs that carried a lot of our ancestors through a lot of tough times when they were marching for voting rights and all these other things. I have literally zero times turned for someone singing my song. It’s just that I scrutinize it more heavily than I normally would. But, I was like, ‘I don’t need to do that.’” I was like, ‘He’s doing some things I haven’t done that are better than what I would do with the song.” He went on to say, after Clarkson said that she wondered whether it was Legend singing at times, “He was better than me.”

Solomon noted that he grew up singing Legend’s songs. He even said that he won an eighth-grade talent show by singing the Oscar winner’s “Ordinary People.” Legend then suggested that they duet the song together, which they proceeded to do flawlessly. The clip did not detail whose team Solomon decided to join, but he did say that he wanted to “shake things up a little.” Fans will have to tune in to The Voice‘s Season 20 premiere to see exactly how he’ll make his mark on the competition.