Since 2001, Blake Shelton has been part of country music. As trends and fads have changed and evolved, Shelton has remained unapologetically true to who he is as an artist, and the kind of music he wants to make. These four Blake Shelton songs should be known by every music fan, even if they don’t think they like country music.
“Ol’ Red”
When Shelton released “Ol’ Red” in 2002 as his third single, he likely could have never imagined how integral that song would be to his career, decades later. Written by James “Bo” Bohon, Don Goodman, and Mark Sherrill, the song was first a hit for George Jones in 1990, later also recorded by Kenny Rogers.
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“Ol’ Red” is about a dog that a man uses while in prison to escape, even though the dog typically helps find inmates. A unique storyline, it’s Shelton’s version that remains the most popular, even though it didn’t hit No. 1. It’s also the inspiration for his Ole Red restaurant franchise.
“God’s Country”
If there’s a second chapter of Shelton’s career, it begins with “God’s Country”. A No. 1 single for him in 2019, the song is written by Devin Dawson, Jordan Schmidt, and Michael Hardy. It appears on Shelton’s Fully Loaded: God’s Country record.
When Shelton heard “God’s Country”, he was working on his ranch in Oklahoma. After releasing a few songs that didn’t do as well as he had hoped, Shelton now admits he wondered if his best days in country music were behind him. He may have stopped releasing new music, if not for “God’s Country”.
“I said, ‘Man, that song sounds like a remedy, like a cure, like everything that I need in my life to hear on the radio and to hear myself sing,’” Shelton tells The Tennessean, recalling the first time he heard “God’s Country”. “I went, ‘That’s it. Let’s record this thing.’”
“God Gave Me You”
Christian singer Dave Barnes wrote “God Gave Me You”, also first releasing the song as a single. Shelton was driving home when he heard the song on the radio, and immediately decided he wanted to record it.
“It really connected with him,” Barnes recalls to American Songwriter. “He downloaded the song then and there on the way home, and called Scott and told him he found a song he had to record. It’s such an amazing story because of the way he heard it.”
“God Gave Me You” became a multi-platinum hit for Shelton. The song, which appears on his Red River Blue record, stayed in the No. 1 spot for three weeks. Shelton’s former wife, Miranda Lambert, appears in the video.
“Nobody But You” With Gwen Stefani
A country singer and a rock star sounds like an unlikely combination, in music and in life. But for Shelton and his wife, Gwen Stefani, it works quite well. The two have released several duets since they began dating in 2015, but it’s “Nobody But You” that remains a fan favorite.
Released in 2020, one year before the two got married, “Nobody But You” is their first official duet that was released as a single. “Nobody But You” is written by Ross Copperman, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, and Tommy Lee James.
“It is literally our story,” Shelton says on After Midnite. “There are so many lines in this song that just slay me. It was obvious to me that she needed to be on it.”
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