Blake Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma as the youngest of three with an older sister and an older brother who passed away on November 13, 1990 in a car accident. Shelton began singing and playing the guitar at a young age. When he was 15, he wrote his first song and when he was 16, he received a Denbo Diamond Award from the state of Oklahoma (2). After graduation at the age of 17, Shelton moved to Nashville to pursue a career in music.
After selling his songs to various publishing houses, Shelton landed a solo contract with Giant Records which favored his “traditional style of country music that included sentimental ballads as well as blue-collar rock songs” (2). In 2001, he released his first single “Austin” that immediately became a big hit which remained Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for five weeks (4). Shelton’s success did not end there. Since his chart-topping single, he has released 9 albums – 6 of which are gold or platinum certified – and had 12 Number One hits, 8 of them consecutively (2, 3). Shelton has received many awards for his musical accomplishments. Those include CMA Entertainer of the Year, three-time Male Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year with co-writer Miranda Lambert, and multiple other awards and Grammy nominations (3).
In addition to his music career, Shelton has hosted the American Music Awards three times and been on the judging panel for NBC’s The Voice. He is now happily married to Country Music star Miranda Lambert. His most recent album Based on a True Story… produced the chart-topper “Sure Be Cool if You Did” and became the number three on the charts being his third platinum-certified album (2). However, Shelton will not stop here. He will continue to progress in his career and be a well known ambassador for country music.
After selling his songs to various publishing houses, Shelton landed a solo contract with Giant Records which favored his “traditional style of country music that included sentimental ballads as well as blue-collar rock songs” (2). In 2001, he released his first single “Austin” that immediately became a big hit which remained Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for five weeks (4). Shelton’s success did not end there. Since his chart-topping single, he has released 9 albums – 6 of which are gold or platinum certified – and had 12 Number One hits, 8 of them consecutively (2, 3). Shelton has received many awards for his musical accomplishments. Those include CMA Entertainer of the Year, three-time Male Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year with co-writer Miranda Lambert, and multiple other awards and Grammy nominations (3).
In addition to his music career, Shelton has hosted the American Music Awards three times and been on the judging panel for NBC’s The Voice. He is now happily married to Country Music star Miranda Lambert. His most recent album Based on a True Story… produced the chart-topper “Sure Be Cool if You Did” and became the number three on the charts being his third platinum-certified album (2). However, Shelton will not stop here. He will continue to progress in his career and be a well known ambassador for country music.