Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton

    Blake Tollison Shelton was born on June 18, 1976. He is 38 years old and is six feet five inches. He was born in Ada, Oklahoma. He is an American country singer. Richard and Dorothy Shelton are his parents.

     His dad was a used car dealer while his mom was a beauty salon owner. Blake  began singing at an early age and by age 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. On November 13, 1990, his older brother Richie Shelton (who was 24 at the time) was killed in an automobile accident.

     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 for his career. A few years later Blake got signed to Giant Records in 2001.  In 2001, he released a song called “I Wanna Talk About Me” as a single. Staff at his record label said is was unsuitable for a lead off single, however the song was eventually recorded by Toby Keith, his version was a hit single.

    Instead Giant Records released his song called “Austin” as a hit single.  Shortly after its release, Giant Records was closed, and Shelton was transferred to parent company Warner Bros Records  "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles. Blake Shelton received a gold certification from the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies on his first album.

    Blakes second album, The Dreamer, was first released on February 4, 2003, on Warner Bros. Records.  Its lead off single, "The Baby", reached number 1 on the country charts, holding that position for three weeks. The second and third singles "Heavy Liftin'" and "Playboys of the Southwestern World", respectively only reached number 32 and number 24, The Dreamer earned a gold certificate as well. On December 18, 2005, several of Blake's songs, including "Nobody but Me", appeared on the TV movie The Christmas Blessing. Blake issued his third album called Bar and Grill released in 2004.

    His fourth album came out in 2007 with many hit singles. With his first three albums, which were produced entirely by Bobby Braddock. Blake worked with Bobby, Brent Rowan, and Paul Worley as producers for this album. Its first two singles "Don't Make Me" and "The More I Drink" were both Top 20 hits on the country charts, reaching number 12 and number 15. His album was re-released in 2008 with three bonus tracks, including a cover of Michael Buble's hit single "Home". This cover, released in early 2008 as the album's third single, became his fourth number one hit in July.

    Blake Shelton released the album Red River Blue on July 12, 2011, led by the single, "Honey Bee". The song received 138,000 downloads in its first week and was certified gold in its seventh week, setting a record for the fastest gold certification by a male country singer. On June 13, 2011, in its tenth chart week, "Honey Bee" went to number one on the billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming his ninth number one and his fastest-climbing. The album was expected to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 with around 110,000 copies sold. "God Gave Me You", a cover of a Dave Barnes song, was the album's second single, it also reached Number one "Drink on It", the fifth song on the album, hit number one in April 2012, giving him his 11th number one song.

    Shortly after midnight on New Year's Day 2013, Shelton premiered a new single entitled "Sur Be Cool If You Did",which was released to iTunes on January 8 and reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay chart in 2013. His eighth studio album,Based on A True Story, was released on March 26, 2013 and debuted at number one on the country chart and number three on the all genre chart by selling a career best nearly 200,000 copies. The album's second single, "Boys Round Here" released to country radio in 2013 and also reached number one on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The album's third single, "Mine Would Be You", was released to country radio on July 22, 2013 and reached number one on the Country Airplay chart in November 2013. "Mine Would Be You" became Shelton's tenth consecutive number one single, tying him with the record set by Brad Paisley  in 2009. With the release of the album's fourth single, "Doin What She Likes", Shelton achieved his eleventh consecutive number one single, which broke the tie.

    Blake married long time girlfriend Kaynette Gern on November 17, 2003. They divorced in 2006. In 2005, Shelton met fellow country singer Miranda Lambert at the CMT's 100 Greatest Duets Concert. On May 9, 2010, after dating for four years, Blake proposed to Miranda, after seeking and receiving her father's blessing. Shelton and Lambert were married on May 14, 2011, in Texas.. On January 17, 2012, Blake's brother, Richie, died in 1990. Blake and Miranda wrote about Richie in Lambert's song, "Over You". The song was named CMA Song of the Year for 2012. It was also named Single Record and Song of the Year at the 2013 Academy of Country Music awards. In August 2014, Blake announced that his ninth studio album, Bringing Back The Sunshine, would be released on September 30, 2014.