Blake Shelton biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Blake Tollison Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma, on June 18, 1976. By the age of 16, Shelton toured the bar circuit, garnering statewide attention and winning the Denbo Diamond Award, the top award for young entertainers in Oklahoma. Two weeks after graduating from high school, in 1994, he moved to Nashville to launch a songwriting career.

Topping the Country Charts

Once he hit Nashville, Shelton sold songs he had written to several musical publishing houses and landed a solo recording contract with Giant Records. His style was a traditional mix of blue-collar rock songs and country ballads, and he soon topped the country music charts with the song "Austin," which held the No. 1 spot for five weeks. In 2002, he hit the charts with his self-titled debut album—released by Warner Bros. once Giant Records dissolved—and the singles "All Over Me" and "Ol' Red" helped the album achieve gold status.

In February 2003, Shelton released The Dreamer, and it’s first single, "The Baby," reached No. 1 on the country music charts, hanging on for three weeks. The second and third singles from the album, "Heavy Liftin'" and "Playboys of the Southwestern World," each cracked the top 50, and The Dreamer went gold. In 2004, Blake Shelton began releasing a string of hit albums, beginning with Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill. The second single from the album, "Some Beach," became his third No. 1 hit, and the singles "Goodbye Time" and "Nobody but Me" reached top 10, sending the album to gold status. Along with the album, Shelton released an accompanying video collection, Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill: A Video Collection. Pure BS was released in early 2007, and its first two singles, "Don't Make Me" and "The More I Drink," were both top 20 hits on the country charts. That same year, Shelton made his reality TV debut, appearing first as a judge on Nashville Star and then on Clash of the Choirs.

Shelton released full-length album Startin’ Fires in 2009, followed by EPs Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight in 2010. That same year, he released his first collection of greatest hits, Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton. He went on to win several awards at the 2010 Grand Ole Opry, including an Academy of Country Music award, a Country Music Association award, and a CMT Music award.

Personal Life and Continued Success

In 2011, Shelton set both personal and professional milestones. He married longtime girlfriend and country music star Miranda Lambert, became a judge on the TV singing competition The Voice and debuted his new album, Red River Blue, which became his first Billboard 200 No.