Adam Levine's Exit Breaks 'The Voice' Fans' Hearts

On Friday, May 24 the Maroon 5 singer announced his departure from the singing competition series after 16 seasons as coach, with news of Gwen Stefani returning to replace him on Season 17.

40-year-old Adam Levine won’t be among “The Voice” coaches from the upcoming season on, leaving co-star Blake Shelton as the only remaining member of the original team that launched the series in 2011.

The sad news was revealed by the show’s host Carson Daly on the “Today Show” early in the day. "He'll always be a cherished member of 'The Voice' family, and of course we wish him nothing but the best," Daly said.

LEVINE TAKES TO INSTAGRAM

Following Daly’s announcement, Levine himself took to Instagram to post a lengthy note on which he explained that he felt it was “time to move on” and also expressed his gratitude for the great time he had in the show.

“I am truly honored to have been a part of something I’ll always cherish for the rest of my life,” the singer captioned his post of a “Rolling Stone” cover from 2012 that pictured Levine with the original panel of coaches from Season 1.

“Thank you to every single coach I ever sat in those chairs with. That is shared experience that is singularly ours. We have that for life,” he added.

“Thank you to everyone who supported this long strange and amazing left turn into a place I never thought I’d go,” Levine said.

He went on to thank fellow coaches Kelly Clarkson and John Legend, and dedicated very sweet words to Shelton, to whom he grew very close in the last eight years.

The singer also thanked the crew, the band, the producers, host Daly, and last but not least the fans who supported him and the show for all this time. In turn, many of them took to social media to share their reactions to Levine’s farewell.

The news of Levine leaving was hard to believe to anybody that had heard NBC’s announcement of two weeks earlier, when the network said that all four current coaches were confirmed for Season 17.

SOCIAL MEDIA REACTS

“There's just no replacing Adam. You can put someone in that chair but you can't duplicate the way he interacts with Blake and the other coaches. This changes the whole dynamic of the show,” a fan tweeted.

“Don‘t know if I even continue to watch #TheVoice with @adamlevine gone,” a heartbroken user shared. “@adamlevine you just broke my heart! You’re the only reason I watch ‘The Voice,’” added someone else.

FELLOW COACHES REACT

Levine’s decision even took his fellow coaches by surprise, with Clarkson reportedly learning about it just the night before it became public. She took to Twitter to comment on it.

“Found out last night about @adamlevine leaving The Voice & while I get that he’s been doing the show 4 a while & wants to step away, it will be weird showing up 4 work & he’s not there,” Clarkson wrote.

The “Broken & Beautiful” singer, who joined “The Voice” in 2012, recognized the great work Levine did since the show started. “To start an amazing show from the ground up is a big deal!” she said.

"Having a hard time wrapping my head around @adamlevine not being at @NBCTheVoice anymore," Shelton tweeted. "

“After 16 seasons that changed both of our lives. I only found out about this yesterday and it hasn't set in on me yet. Gonna miss working with that idiot," he jokingly added.

Legend, who just joined the series on the recently concluded season, simply wrote: “We’ll miss you, brother,” re-tweeting Levine’s announcement.

WHY IS HE LEAVING?

The news of Levine leaving was hard to believe to anybody that had heard NBC’s announcement of two weeks earlier, when the network said that all four current coaches were confirmed for Season 17.

While Levine tried to make clear that he only has good feelings for the show, the press, and the audience had been noticing that he wasn’t as much into his coach duties lately.

Other sources claim that Levine wasn’t happy with the changes of format the show has undergone recently, and the fact that the public is so inclined towards country music.