Blake Shelton American Singer Born 1976 in Ada

Early life

Blake Tollison Shelton was born on 18 June 1976 in Ada, Oklahoma, and attended Ada High School. He sang from an early age, learned guitar from an uncle by the time he was twelve, and wrote his first song around fifteen. After finishing school he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to try to build a career in music. He found work at a music publishing company, and in 1997 the songwriter Bobby Braddock helped him obtain a production contract with Sony Music.

Career

Shelton signed to Giant Records, which released "Austin" as his first single in 2001. Giant closed soon after, and he was moved to its parent company, Warner Bros. Records. "Austin" spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. His self-titled debut album, produced by Braddock, later went platinum and also produced the top-20 singles "All Over Me", which he co-wrote, and "Ol' Red". The Dreamer followed on 4 February 2003 and earned a gold certification, led by "The Baby", a number one. Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill (2004) was certified platinum and gave him a third number one with "Some Beach".

In December 2005 several of his songs were used in the television film The Christmas Blessing, in which he also made a brief appearance as himself at a benefit concert. Pure BS arrived in 2007, and a cover of Michael Bublé's "Home", added to the 2008 reissue, became his fourth number one. "She Wouldn't Be Gone" opened the album Startin' Fires in 2008. In 2010 he released the extended plays Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight, and in November of that year a first greatest-hits album, Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 2010 and was formally inducted by Trace Adkins on 23 October.

In 2011 he became a coach on the NBC show The Voice. He stayed through the show's twenty-third season in 2023, and nine of the winners came from his team. That year he also released Red River Blue, whose single "Honey Bee" set a record for the fastest gold certification by a male country singer. Later studio albums included Based on a True Story... (2013), Bringing Back the Sunshine (2014), If I'm Honest (2016), Texoma Shore (2017), Body Language (2021) and, in 2025, For Recreational Use Only. In 2013 "Doin' What She Likes" set a record for consecutive number ones on the Country Airplay chart, and a streak of seventeen was reached in 2016 with "Came Here to Forget". A second hits collection, Reloaded: 20 Number 1 Hits, came out in October 2015. In 2019 he issued Fully Loaded: God's Country, whose title song reached number one on Hot Country Songs.

On screen he voiced the character Earl in The Angry Birds Movie, and in 2015 he played Wyatt Earp in the comedy The Ridiculous 6. In September 2017 he opened the first Ole Red, a restaurant and music venue in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, in partnership with Ryman Hospitality Properties, and further locations followed in several cities. In September 2024 he left Warner Music Nashville for BMG and BBR Music Group. His single "Stay Country or Die Tryin'" became his thirtieth number one country single in January 2026.

Recognition

Shelton has won Country Music Association awards, including Male Vocalist of the Year in 2010, along with Academy of Country Music Awards, People's Choice Awards and American Music Awards. He was named the Academy of Country Music's Gene Weed Special Achievement Award recipient in 2013, received the NATPE Reality Breakthrough Award for Best Reality Personality in 2017, and has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 2010. Among his charity gifts, he donated 600,000 dollars in September 2016 to the Jimmy Everest Center, a children's hospital in Oklahoma, after concerts in Oklahoma City.

Personal life

Shelton married the singer Miranda Lambert on 14 May 2011 in Boerne, Texas. They announced their divorce on 20 July 2015. He later began a relationship with fellow Voice coach Gwen Stefani. The two worked on several songs together, including "Nobody But You", and they became engaged in October 2020. They married on 3 July 2021 in a chapel on his property in Oklahoma.