Watch Texan dazzle coaches with ‘flawless’ Stevie Wonder performance on ‘The Voice’
Influenced musically by John Legend, North Texas native Kevin Hawkins missed the opportunity to be coached by his idol just seconds into his blind audition on “The Voice” on Tuesday, Sept. 20.
All four coaches turned their chairs for Hawkins, but Gwen Stefani used her only block of the season on Legend. Instead, Hawkins was left to pick between Stefani, Blake Shelton and Camila Cabello after he wowed the judges with his performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.”
A middle school piano teacher from Lancaster, just outside Dallas, Hawkins showed off his soulful vocals and commanded the stage as he performed the iconic song. Stefani turned her chair and blocked Legend just 10 seconds into the performance.
“Your voice, it sounds like a record. It sounds like a Grammy performance,” she later said. “Such amazing tone. I can tell that this is your absolute dream moment, and I’m so happy for you and you’re gonna shine on the stage. You’re incredible.”
Legend complimented Hawkins on his jazz inflections, which he said gave him Anita Baker vibes.
Hawkins also received positive remarks from the other two coaches, who were all fighting for the North Texan.
“That vocal performance was flawless. Your riffs, your tone,” Cabello said. “I can tell that you have that performer and entertainer in you too, and I feel like you’re already somebody who has an idea of what they want to be.”
“You came here maybe hoping that John Legend would turn around, and I’m here to tell you that I’m the next closest thing to John Legend on this particular season,” Shelton joked.
Hawkins ultimately picked Shelton, who has quite the track record coaching future champions. Shelton’s team has won “The Voice” in eight of its 21 seasons.
A biography for Hawkins states he has been influenced by Beyoncé, Prince, Legend and Wonder. He grew up in a home with musically inclined parents and graduated from the University of North Texas with a vocal performance and music education degree.
“Music has always been my passion,” Hawkins told D Magazine in 2019. “Everybody in my family sings. My mom, my dad sings a little bit, everybody in my family sings. They all play an instrument, whether that be the piano, drums, the guitar. It’s always been in my family, and I just wanted to take it a step further to pursue it as a career.”
He said in a 2021 interview with Hip Hop Weekly that he intends to be a household name “in the next few years.”
“But more than that I want to create more platforms for artists. I plan to open music venues, rehearsal halls, and even start my own promotion label and touring company,” he said. “I look at people like Rihanna, Beyoncé and Jay-Z and music is just the start of being the mogul I want to become.”
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