Another Austin voice is making noise on “The Voice,” landing on John Legend’s team after a blind audition.
Grace Humphries, 18, earned a spot on Team Legend during the show’s Season 29 premiere Monday night. Her audition performance of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell secured Legend’s chair turn.
Humphries has been singing since childhood and grew up performing in choir, theater and church. She said on the episode that her music blends country, pop and folk influences, and she began writing songs at a young age.
“I do feel like an old soul,” she said. “I have a joke that I’m grandma grace.”
Much of that songwriting, she says, is shaped by the death of her brother Liam, who died from brain cancer when they were children. Humphries has said music became a way to work through grief and connect with others who have experienced loss.
By age 16, she had recorded original songs at Abbey Road Studios in London. Now, she leads worship services each week while continuing to write and perform.
Legend praised both her tone and the emotion in her performance.
Legend was the only judge to turn his chair. But this season of “The Voice” looks a little different because there are only three coaches instead of the usual four. Each of the coaches — Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine and Legend — will be able to pick 10 artists from the blind auditions to guide through the rest of the show.
“I heard your voice and your tone and the way you just kind of graced the stage,” Legend said after the audition. “And I’m like, ‘I want you on my team.'”
The other coaches said they admired her song choice — a Mitchell classic — and the identity she brought to the performance. Levine said he heard some pitch issues, which is why he didn’t turn his chair, but suggested those were things Legend could help her refine moving forward.
Her blind audition can be watched online below:
Season 29 of “The Voice” airs on Monday at 8 p.m. Central Time on NBC, with episodes running about two hours and streaming the next day on Peacock.