The opening of Mötley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home” gave the Coaches little warning about what was coming. But once Destinee Monroe began building toward the chorus during her The Voice Season 30 Blind Audition, everything changed.
The 32-year-old singer from Atlantic City, New Jersey, walked onto the stage carrying years of professional experience, but the Coaches couldn’t see any of that. All they had was her voice—and it didn’t take long for one of them to recognize something special.
Adam Levine was the first Coach to turn. His chair swung around just as Destinee was preparing to unleash the bigger side of her voice, and his timing couldn’t have been much better.
Destinee then hit the chorus with the kind of rock power the song demands. As her performance grew bigger, Queen Latifah turned her chair, giving Destinee a second Coach fighting for her.
But Destinee still wasn’t finished. She pushed into another huge vocal moment toward the end, and Riley Green finally hit his button too. In a matter of minutes, what began as one woman standing alone onstage had become a three-Coach battle.
Latifah clearly loved the energy. She described Destinee’s performance as “amazing” and “hardcore,” while Levine immediately emphasized that viewers shouldn’t be fooled by the pop direction his career eventually took—rock music is very much part of his musical background.
Riley took a different approach. He reminded Destinee that Adam already knew what winning The Voice felt like, then argued that helping a brand-new Coach earn his first victory could be an even bigger story. He believed the two of them could have a real chance together.
What the Coaches were only beginning to discover was that Destinee was far from a newcomer to the music industry. Long before The Voice, she performed alongside her sister Paris as the pop duo Destinee & Paris.
The sisters were signed to Interscope Records and spent years pursuing music professionally. Their career even included opening for Britney Spears, giving Destinee experience performing in front of enormous audiences long before she ever stood on The Voice stage.
Eventually, that chapter ended. Destinee and her sister went their separate ways musically, and Destinee continued performing, including working with a rock band. That history helps explain why she appeared so comfortable attacking a Mötley Crüe classic rather than playing things safe with her Blind Audition.
With three chairs facing her, Destinee finally had to choose between Levine, Latifah and Green. Despite strong pitches from all three, she went with the Coach who had recognized her first and whose own musical history gave him an obvious connection to her rock side: Adam Levine.
Destinee’s “Home Sweet Home” audition wasn’t simply about hitting one enormous note. It showed the confidence of someone who has already experienced the highs and setbacks of the music business and still loves being onstage. Three Coaches heard enough to want her—and now, with Team Adam behind her, Destinee Monroe has another opportunity to show exactly what that powerhouse voice can do.
