Blake Shelton

Blake Tollison Shelton is an American country singer-songwriter and television personality that is currently dating Gwen Stefani. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The now Platinum-certified debut album also produced two more top 20 entries ("All Over Me" and "Ol' Red").[1] Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, he was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.

His second and third albums, 2003's The Dreamer and 2004's Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, are gold and platinum, respectively.[1] His fourth album, Pure BS (2007), was re-issued in 2008 with a cover of Michael Bublé's pop hit "Home" as one of the bonus tracks.[2] His fifth album, Startin' Fires was released in November 2008.[1] It was followed by the extended plays Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight in 2010, and the albums Red River Blue in 2011,[3] Based on a True Story... in 2013, Bringing Back the Sunshine in 2014, and If I'm Honest in 2016. As of June 2017, Shelton had charted 33 singles, including 24[4] number ones, 17 of which were consecutive. The 11th No. 1 ("Doin' What She Likes") broke "the record for the most consecutive No. 1 singles in the Country Airplay chart's 24-year history".[5] He is an eight-time Grammy Award nominee.

Shelton is also known for his role as a judge on the televised singing competitions Nashville Star, Clash of the Choirs, and The Voice. He has been on The Voice since its inception, and in six of thirteen seasons (2–4, 7, 11, 13), a member of his team has won. From 2011 to 2015, Shelton was married to singer Miranda Lambert. Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma, to Dorothy, a beauty salon owner, and Richard Shelton, a used car salesman. Shelton began singing at an early age and by age 12, he was taught how to play the guitar by his uncle.[6] By age 15, he had written his first song. By age 16, he had received a Denbo Diamond Award in his home state.[1] On November 13, 1990, his older brother Richie Shelton (who was 24) was killed in an automobile accident.[7] After graduating from high school at seventeen, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a singing career. There he got a job at a music publishing company and, in 1997, he was aided by Bobby Braddock to obtain a production contract with Sony Music. Some years later in Nashville, he signed to Giant Records in 2001. In 2001, he was slated to release a song entitled "I Wanna Talk About Me" as a single. Staff at the label considered the song unsuitable for a lead-off single, however, and the song was eventually recorded by Toby Keith, whose version was a number 1 single.[9]

Instead, Giant released "Austin" as Shelton's debut single. Shortly after its release, Giant Records was closed, and Shelton was transferred to parent company Warner Bros. Records. "Austin" spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. Warner released his self-titled debut album, which was produced by songwriter Bobby Braddock. It also produced the top 20 hits "All Over Me", which Shelton co-wrote with Earl Thomas Conley and Mike Pyle, and "Ol' Red".[1] Although Shelton's rendition of "Ol' Red" was not a major radio hit, he considers it his signature song, and it has become popular in concert.[10] Blake Sheltonreceived a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 1,000,000 copies.[11]

Blake Shelton received a positive review from Maria Konicki Dinoia of Allmusic, who called "Austin" "tremendously imaginative" and praised Shelton for including songs written by Braddock and Conley.[12] Country Standard Timewas less favorable, with Scott Homewood saying that it "album just smacks of being assembled with the intent on capturing the burgeoning alternative country market".[13]

Shelton's second album, The Dreamer, was first released on February 4, 2003, on Warner Bros. Records. Its lead-off single, "The Baby", reached No. 1 on the country charts, holding that position for three weeks. Although the second and third singles ("Heavy Liftin'" and "Playboys of the Southwestern World", respectively) only reached No.32 and No. 24, The Dreamer earned gold certification as well. He, along with Andy Griggs and Montgomery Gentry, sang guest vocals on Tracy Byrd's mid-2003 single "The Truth About Men". Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill was the title of Shelton's third studio album, released in 2004.[1] Its lead-off single, the Harley Allen co-write "When Somebody Knows You That Well", peaked at No.37 on the country charts, while the follow-up "Some Beach" became his third No.1 hit, holding that position for four weeks. It was followed by a cover of Conway Twitty's 1988 single "Goodbye Time".[14] Both this cover and its followup, "Nobody but Me", reached Top Ten for Shelton as well. As with his first album, Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill was certified platinum. Accompanying the album's release was a video collection entitled Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill: A Video Collection.[1]

On December 18, 2005, several of Shelton's songs, including "Nobody but Me", appeared on the TV movie The Christmas Blessing, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Rebecca Gayheart, Angus T. Jones, and Rob Lowe. Shelton had a small role at the end of the movie, playing himself at a benefit concert, singing "Nobody but Me".