Blake Shelton

Background

Blake Tollison Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma. His father, Richard Lee Shelton, was a car salesman. His mother, Dorothy Ann, was a beauty salon owner. Shelton started singing at a young age and by the time he was 12, he had learned how to play the guitar. He wrote his first song at age 15 and received his first award, the Denbo Diamond Award, at 16. A year later, Shelton lost his older brother, Richie Shelton, in an automobile accident.

Following his high school graduation at age 17, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a singing career. There, he landed a job at a music publishing company, which gave him insights into how the music industry works. There, he met Bobby Braddock who helped him to obtain a production contract with Sony Music in 1997. Three years later, he was signed to Giant Records where he was to release a song titled ‘I Wanna Talk about Me.’ The staff at Giant Records declared the song unsuitable for a lead-off single and released ‘Austin’ instead. Shortly after, Giant Records was closed and Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records. The single ‘Austin’ became Shelton’s first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks charts.

In 2003, Shelton released his second album, “The Dreamer.” The album’s lead-off single, ‘The Baby’ reached the first position on the country charts. The album earned gold certification. One year later, Shelton released his third album “Blake Shelton’s Barn and Grill,” which got platinum-certified. His single ‘Some Beach’ reached the first position and held that position for a month.