The Voice season 27: Significance of Adam Levine gifting his team sweaters, explained

The Voice season 27, episode 1, titled The Blind Auditions Premiere, aired on NBC on February 3 and marked the return of longtime coach Adam Levine. The episode continued the tradition from last season, with coaches presenting special welcome gifts to their new team members.

Adam gifted his new members a distressed graffiti-style white sweatshirt that had a graffiti-style scowling unicorn on the front and "Team Adam" written on the back. First-time coach Kelsea Ballerini handed out brown cowboy boots that had "V S27" and "Team Kelsea" inscribed on them.

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The Voice coach Adam Levine's gift sweatshirts are from the streetwear brand, Friendly Unicorn

Adam Levine made his return with The Voice season 27 joining the coaching panel with his fellow returning coaches Michael Bublé, John Legend, and first-time coach Kelsea Ballerini.

Adam was one of the first four coaches on The Voice when it premiered in 2011. He went on to grace the show with his expertise for over eight years before leaving it after season 16.

Now that Adam has returned to the singing competition, he's making his comeback even more special by gifting his special sweaters to the contestants who join his team. During the premiere episode, he welcomed Darius J, Ethan Eckenroad, and Grace-Miller Moody with this thoughtful gesture.

These distressed white sweatshirts have a graffiti-style scowling unicorn on the front side. This unique-looking unicorn is styled with a rainbow-colored mane, and punk tattoos over its face and is donning a spiked choker.

The sweatshirt's front features hand-drawn-style smiley faces, while the back displays "The Voice: Team Adam" with unicorn sketches below. From Adam's favorite streetwear brand, Friendly Unicorn, the brand was also featured in a pop-up shop during Maroon 5's Las Vegas residency.

As a partner of the brand, Adam even included Friendly Unicorn's clothing in his list of favorite holiday gifts during an interview with People on November 25, 2021.

"Friendly Unicorn makes these extremely comfortable and great quality shorts that you can wear around the house or out on a hike. I live in sweats, and these are my favorite. Plus, they have a very cool, unique design," he said during the interview.

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Why did Adam Levine leave The Voice and why did he return?

Adam left the show after his final appearance in The Voice season 16. He opened up about his decision to leave in an interview with Howard Stern on The Howard Stern Show, published on October 8, 2019, and shred that he he needed a break from it "for a little bit."

"I was ready to not be doing it anymore ... for a little bit. When it all naturally happened, I was like, 'OK, this feels right.' For better or worse, the moment in which we decided to walk away felt really good. This was the right time for me to go," he said.

He explained that for over eight-and-a-half years, he was balancing his time between his commitment to his band, Maroon 5, and his position as coach on The Voice.

While Adam admitted that he was "beyond fortunate" for the life-changing experience of being on the singing show he came to a point where his priorities shifted. He further noted that after being married and having two kids he decided to take time off to spend more time with his new family.

After a five-year break, he made his highly anticipated return for season 27. In a February 3, 2025, interview with NBC Insider, he shared his excitement, explaining that his decision to return wasn’t overanalyzed—he simply felt it was the right time.

"It didn’t involve too much deliberation or overthinking. I kind of just felt ready. I was really happy to come back and experience it again with these three wonderful [coaches]," he said.

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The Voice season 27 episodes air every Monday on NBC.