Blake Shelton

Blake Tollison Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma, to Dorothy Ann (née Bristol) (b. 1936), a beauty salon owner, and Richard Lee "Dick" Shelton (1940–2012), a car salesman.

Shelton began singing at an early age and by the age of 12, he was taught how to play the guitar by his uncle.

By age 15, he had written his first song.

By age 16, he had received a Denbo Diamond Award in his home state.

Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality.

It was followed by a cover of Conway Twitty's 1988 single "Goodbye Time".

Both this cover and its followup, "Nobody but Me", reached Top Ten for Shelton, as well.

On November 13, 1990, his older brother, Richie Shelton was killed in an automobile accident at 24.

After graduating from high school at 17, 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, he made his debut with the single "Austin" from his first album, Blake Shelton.

"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").

In 2001, he was slated to release a song entitled "I Wanna Talk About Me" as a single.

However, staff at the label considered the song unsuitable for a lead-off single, and the song was eventually recorded by Toby Keith, whose version was a number 1 single.

Instead, Giant released "Austin" as Shelton's debut single.

Shortly after that song was released, Giant Records was closed, and Shelton was transferred to parent company Warner Bros. Records.

"Austin" became Shelton's first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts and spent five weeks at that position.

Warner released Shelton's 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".

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.

The album received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 1,000,000 copies.

The album 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.

Country Standard Time was less favorable, with Scott Homewood saying that the "album just smacks of being assembled with the intent on capturing the burgeoning alternative country market".

His second and third albums, 2003's The Dreamer and 2004's Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, are gold and platinum, respectively.

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.

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.

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.

His fifth album, Startin' Fires was released in November 2008.

It was followed by the extended plays Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight in 2010, and the albums Red River Blue in 2011, Based on a True Story... in 2013, Bringing Back the Sunshine in 2014, If I'm Honest in 2016, Texoma Shore in 2017, and Fully Loaded: God's Country in 2019.

, Shelton has charted 40 singles, including 28 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".

Throughout his career, he has received nine Grammy Award nominations, including two for Best Country Album.

Shelton has been a judge on the televised singing competitions Nashville Star, Clash of the Choirs, and a coach on NBC's The Voice.

He was on The Voice from 2011 to 2023, and, in nine of twenty-three seasons (2–4, 7, 11, 13, 18, 20, 22), a member of his team won.