Former 'American Idol' Judge Joins 'The Voice' Season 25
The new season of "The Voice" has tapped Keith Urban to serve as the singing competition's latest mega mentor.
NBC has announced that the Grammy-winning Australian country icon will appear on the show next month to guide the remaining hopefuls from John Legend, Chance The Rapper, Reba McEntire and Dan + Shay's teams.
As a mega mentor, the former "American Idol" judge will help the performers and their coaches prepare for the knockout rounds, according to People.
This is not the first time Urban will share his singing and performing expertise on "The Voice." He previously served as a coach on seasons 1, 10 and 11 of "The Voice Australia" alongside Seal, Delta Goodrem and Good Charlotte's Joel Madden.
During the 15th season of the show's U.S. edition, he appeared as an adviser to coach Blake Shelton.
Meanwhile, in the 12th season of "American Idol" in 2013, he served as a judge with Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj.
Other celebrities who have served as mega mentors for "The Voice" hopefuls include Ed Sheeran, Usher, Taylor Swift and Snoop Dogg, among many others.
In "The Voice" Season 24, Wynonna Judd served as the mega mentor. Before her, McEntire, who is now a coach, served as the mega mentor during the show's 23rd season.
The role of a mega mentor is to get "the best performance out of each artist" by giving them "an unbiased ear," according to NBC.
"The Voice" Season 25 premiered on Feb. 26. New episodes of the reality singing competition air at 8/7c on Mondays and 9/8c on Tuesdays, and the next day on Peacock.
The knockout rounds will kick off on April 8.
Aside from his upcoming role as "The Voice's" newest mega mentor, Urban is set to release a new studio album.
In an interview with Audacy's Rob + Holly on the "Friday Night Takeover" podcast, the 56-year-old country singer shared that he started working on his new album more than two years ago.
While he had already "ended up with 13 songs," he felt like "it just wasn't there," so he picked up himself and re-grouped to work on "a more authentic album."
He has yet to announce specific details about his new album.
