Cozy Len Gage Jr. has taken his talents to the hit show The Voice. The Baton Rouge singer, who goes by Cozy Len, has spent over 25 years in the music industry and is known around town as a gospel singer at Healing Place Church.
For last week’s blind auditions, he performed “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men. Gwen Stefani and Reba McEntire both responded with a chair turn, a tradition on the show that signals a coach is interested in working with a competitor. He ultimately chose Stefani as his coach for this season of The Voice. Now, the show’s battle rounds have started. The singer says his battle episode will air either next Monday, Oct. 28, Tuesday, Oct. 29, or Monday, Nov. 4.
225 caught up with the singer to see how his time on The Voice has been so far, what led him to audition, why he wanted to work with Stefani—and what’s to come. Be sure to tune in to either NBC or Peacock to keep up with his journey. Quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity.
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How did you first get started in the music industry? When did you know you wanted to pursue music?
I got started at a young age. My dad was a pastor, so I grew up in the church and started singing in church. Around 7 or 8 years old, my mom and dad got me a manager, and I started a rap group with a friend I grew up with. When we got our manager, we started doing shows around town. I got my start at an early age. The first big talent show we did was the Q106.5 city-wide talent show. We auditioned for it and ended up making it. It was a pretty big thing for us because we had never done a show that big before. I was about 8 or 9 years old at that time. From that point on, I was like, “It’s go time.”
What made you want to start your own band, the Cozy Len Xperience?
I’ve always been an entrepreneur. I was a barber for 20 years and owned my own salon. I always wanted to have my own band that I could tour around with and do music on a higher level.
What initially drew you to The Voice and encouraged you to try out?
To be bluntly honest, I’ve never really been a fan of these shows. In 2002, I auditioned for American Idol, and that kinda threw me off. From that point on, I never really wanted to be a part of a show like this. For the last seven to eight years, every time I would perform with my band, everyone would come up to me and say I should try out for The Voice. I always blew it off, because I had a previous experience with that. I didn’t really want to do that. I wanted to go my own route.
I was sitting at home one day when I was having an off day. I was thinking to myself of how I’ve been doing this for a long time and felt that my career had flatlined. I’m a Christian man, and I love God. I heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart and tell me to look at my iPad to see when The Voice was doing auditions. I saw there were auditions in the next couple of weeks, so I went ahead and signed up.
When you saw that Gwen and Reba both turned their chairs for you, what did that moment mean to you?
I felt like my career was hinging on that moment. You walk on that stage, and that’s what you need: a chair turn. You prepare so much for a chair turn or multiple chair turns. When you get it, it means everything to you. It’s just mind-blowing. When I saw Gwen turn in the middle of my song, it gave me so much excitement. I was like, “It’s go time,” and I put my foot on the pedal a little harder. I went with the rest of the song trying to kill it as much as I could.
What ultimately made you decide to choose Gwen Stefani as your coach?
I respect everybody on that panel. I had talked to my wife and brother about it previously, and they both conceded the point that Gwen might be the best coach for me as an artist in my genre of music, being that I blur the lines of pop, R&B and soul. Right before I went out on stage, I made the decision, after praying about it, to honor the first person that turned for me. Since I saw that she was the first one and I was blessed to get a chair turn from her, I knew right then and there I was going to go with her. I don’t feel like I could’ve gone wrong with any of the coaches.
What made you decide to sing “I’ll Make Love to You” by Boyz II Men as your audition song?
I felt like it was a good song to really display my vocal ability. Two things that I really wanted to display were the smooth texture of my voice and my range, because I feel like those are the best things about my voice. I love Boyz II Men, and I grew up listening to them. That was one of the songs that we were able to get cleared to be able to do on the show, so I went with that one.
What does it mean to you to have the support of your family as you follow your dream? How special was it to have your wife and brother there with you at your audition?
Having the support of my family and having them there is the breath to my life and the wind to my wings. It’s the thing that makes me fly and keep going. My wife is the closest person to me. Even in my down moments of gigging so much or having moments where I wanna give up, she’s the one to encourage me in my gift and tell me to keep going and that it’s not too late. My brother has been there for me my whole life and when we lost our parents. He’s been with me every step of the way.
Before performing, what rituals are musts for you?
I make sure I’m well-rested and in a good mindset. I make sure I’m hydrated and eat well to take care of my health and vocal health. The most important thing that I do is stay focused on Christ. Knowing that He’s given me the talent to do what I do. I wouldn’t be doing this without Him, and I wouldn’t have this ability without Him.
What would be an ideal song you’d like to perform to showcase your talent during your time in the competition?
One of the songs I would love to perform is “Can We Talk” by Tevin Campbell. I was a Tevin Campbell fan when he came out with that song when I was a kid. People like to pair our voices, and it’s a great song to exemplify my vocal ability. I get a lot of requests for that song from people when I perform.
Besides the hopes, of course, of winning, what do you want to accomplish during your time on The Voice?
I would like to go as far as I can and build as many relationships as I can. To use it as a platform to step up to the next level. My next level has always been to be an artist and perform live shows, to do music and record at a high level, so I can take care of my family solely with music. I would like to utilize The Voice to help me catapult myself into that arena.
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Give us whatever insights you’re able to about what’s to come with your journey on The Voice. How have things been so far in the competition on Team Gwen?
We’re in the battle season now, so the next step is going out there and battling with whoever my partner is. Gwen has to choose my partner from our team, so once she chooses a partner, then that will be the next step. I would encourage everyone to watch NBC and Peacock to see who I’m paired with and battling for the next round.
Things have been great. I’m loving the experience and the process. I’m loving the relationships I’m building with my fellow members of Team Gwen and other people in the competition on the other teams. We’re all kinda like a family, because we spend so much time together while we’re there because we’re away from our families. We’re going through this process with each other.
For anyone out there wanting to get into the music industry or hoping for their big break, what advice would you offer?
Know who you are as an artist and musician, and stay true to that. Don’t ever try to be anybody else in this industry, no matter what anybody says. Don’t ever try to allow anybody to make you sing, act or perform like anyone. Know who you are and know what your strengths are in your gift. Build that, hone that and utilize that. When you know who you are, you can stand firm and confident in that, and you can move forward in being that artist and operating in a level of confidence that can take you wherever you wanna go.