Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma, in the United States on the 18 June 1976. His mother is Dorothy, a beauty salon owner, and his father is Richard Shelton, a used car salesman.

He developed an interest in singing at an early age. By the time he was twelve, he had also learnt playing the guitar from his uncle. At fifteen, he wrote his first song. At the age of sixteen, he gained a lot of attention after he won the Denbo Diamond Award, which is Oklahoma’s top award for young entertainers.

After graduating from high school in 1994, Blake Shelton decided to pursue a full-time career in singing and songwriting. He wrote and sold songs to several musical publishing houses. Soon, he landed a solo recording contract with Giant Records.

He released his first song ‘Austin’ in April 2001. Featuring a mix of elements from blue-collar rock and country ballad genres, the single was a huge hit. Not only it peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100, it also spent five weeks at the first position on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The same year, with his self-titled debut album which was released by Warner Bros, he once again hit the charts.

His second studio album ‘The Dreamer’ was released in 2003 by Warner Bros Records. Its lead single ‘The Baby’ was a huge hit, and not only it peaked at the first position in the US Country Charts, but it also held the position for two weeks. The album itself peaked at 28th position on the US Billboard 200. It was an average success.

In 2004, he released his third album ‘Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill’. With singles such as ‘Some Beach’ and ‘Nobody but Me’, the album did fairly, and stood at the 20th position on the US Billboard 200.

His next albums ‘Pure BS’, (2007) and ‘Startin Fires’ (2008), were also average successes. The former stood at the fourth position at the US Billboard 200, while the later stood at 34th.

‘Cheers, It’s Christmas’, Blake Shelton’s seventh studio album, is among his important works. Released in October 2012, the album peaked at the eighth position on the US Billboard 200. As of December 2016, it had sold 660k copies in the US. It included singles such as ‘Jingle Bell Rock’, ‘White Christmas’, ‘Blue Christmas’, ‘The Christmas song’, and ‘There’s a New Kid in Town’.

‘Based on a True Story’, the eighth studio album by Shelton, which is also another one of his major works, was released in March 2013. With hit singles such as ‘Sure Be Cool If You Did’, ‘Boys Round Here’, and ‘Mine Would be You’, the album soon became the ninth-best selling album of the year in the US. It did well in other countries as well, standing at third position in both ‘Australian Country Albums’ and ‘Canadian Albums’.

‘Bringing Back the Sunshine’, his ninth album, was released in September 2014. With singles such as ‘Neon Light’, Lonely Night’, and ‘Sangria’, the album peaked at the first position on the US Billboard 200. Within its first week, it had sold 101k copies in the US. The album stood at number 4 on the Canadian Albums.

’If I am Honest’, Blake’s tenth studio album, and also one of his most successful works, was released in May 2016. With hit singles such as ‘Straight Outta Cold Beer’, ‘She’s Got a Way with Words’, and ‘Came Here to Forget’, the album peaked at the third position on the US Billboard 200. It sold 153k copies within its first week. It performed well in other countries too, standing at number 13 at the Australian Albums, and at number 3 at the Canadian Albums.