We would definitely turn our red chairs around for two surprise karaoke singers who popped up at New York’s Baby Grand LES on Thursday night: Kelly Clarkson and John Legend.
The two pop superstars — who return as coaches alongside Adam Levine on The Voice: Battle of Champions starting Monday — stopped by the NYC karaoke bar along with comedian and social celeb Druski for some impromptu performances, and Billboard was on the scene.
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Druski kicked things off with Journey’s sing-along staple “Don’t Stop Believin’,” asking for a shot at the. beginning and having it delivered by the last chorus. Next up was Legend, who told the crowd “I only rap when I do karaoke” before tackling Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Finally, Clarkson did what she does best — singing other people’s songs as well as and often even better than the originals — by covering Gloria Gaynor’s karaoke classic “I Will Survive.”
Billboard even got to make a request: When Clarkson asked for some good karaoke songs and we nominated “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” the trio performed Bonnie Tyler’s four-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit from 1983. Finally, the crew banded together for Clarkson’s 2005 Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Since U Been Gone” for a shout-along finish.
Next week, you can catch Clarkson, Legend and Levine on The Voice: Battle of Champions, which finds the coaches inviting back some of their favorite winners over the past 28 seasons of the NBC reality singing competition to see who will reign supreme. The season premiere is on Monday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
Above, you can watch an interview with this season’s coaches, where they talk about Clarkson’s triumphant return to The Voice and why Jordan Smith — who has found success on Billboard‘s Christian charts since winning season 9 — is going to be tough to beat.