Queen Latifah Reveals Who She Called For Advice Before Joining ‘The Voice’ and Talks ‘Domination’ in the Blind Rounds

Queen Latifah should have no reason to doubt her royal abilities. The 56-year-old Grammy, Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe winner whose debut album, All Hail the Queen, was released in 1989, has appeared in more than 40 movies, hosted her own syndicated daytime talk show and will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November in the musical influence category.

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But, despite that wealth of experience and accolades, Latifah had some trepidation about signing on as a coach on The Voice. So, the half-EGOTer called a full EGOTer, former Voice coach John Legend, to get some important “insider information” and coaching advice, she told People.

“I bring a lot of life experience to this moment, and there are things that need to be shared with these artists,” she said of her excitement to share some of her music industry and life wisdom with the show’s contestants when season 30 cranks up on Sept. 21. “Am I a maestro of everything? No. But I think I have a pretty good ear, and it’s not really about me. It’s about me just trying to see them and giving them that shot.”

That’s where Legend came in. Latifah (born Dana Owens) said she called the “All of Me” singer and asked the 11-season Voice veteran, “‘John, what do I do? How does this work? What’s the vibe?’ He gave me a little bit of a rundown and ultimately was like, ‘You’re going to be great. You’re going to have fun. You’re there for the right reasons.’ And so far everything has been pretty much as it is.”

It seems she had nothing to worry about, as the other coaches told the magazine that Latifah made her royal presence felt from jump. “We lost a lot of people in the blinds to Queen,” said Kelly Clarkson, an 11-season Voice coaching veteran and fellow panelist this season, about Latifah’s dominating run through the first stage of the competition. “I’m dominating the blinds — a title I never thought I’d get,” Latifah confirmed.

In a preview of the upcoming season earlier this week, Latifah got a true queen’s welcome when the camera flashed to a section of the studio audience wearing colorful blinking crowns as they shouted her name and four-time winner Levine —  an original judge from season one in 2011 through season 16 in 2019, then again in season 27 last year and season 29 earlier this year — gulped, “Guys? This is gonna be a problem.”

“Adam, it was a nice run,” jokes fellow four-time winner Clarkson. In addition to Clarkson, Latifah and Levine, this season will see another newbie looking to make an impression: “Worst Way” country star Riley Green.

The three-night season 30 premiere of The Voice begins on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock.