Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976, in Ada Oklahoma) is an American country music artist and began singing at an early age. Shelton was married to longtime girlfriend Kaynette Williams on November 17, 2003. They were divorced in 2006. As of 2006, he began dating fellow country singer Miranda Lambert, whom he met at the CMT’s 100 Greatest Duets Concert. Lambert also sang background vocals on his cover of Micheal Buble’s song, “Home”. Shelton’s version of the song was a Number One single on the Hot Country Songs chart. Blake proposed to Miranda after asking her father for his blessing on May 9, 2010.
He made his debut with the single “austin” in 2001.”Austin” went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This song was the first single from his gold-certified debut album, which also produced two more Top 20 hits. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.By age sixteen, Shelton had received a Denbo Diamond Award in his home state. At age 17, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee in pursuit of a recording career. After several years in Nashville, he signed to Giant Records in 1998. In 2001, he was slated to release a song entitled “I wanna Talk About Me” as a single. Staff at the label considered the song unsuitable for a lead-off single, however, and the song was eventually recorded by Toby Keith, whose version was a Number One hit.
The album, The Dreamer, was first released on February 4, 2003 on Warner Bros. Records. Its lead-off single, “The Baby”, reached Number One on the country charts, holding that position for three weeks. Although the second and third singles (“Heavy Liftin'” and “Playboys of the Southwestern World”, respectively) only reached #32 and #24, The Dreamer earned gold certification as well. He, along with Andy Griggs and Montgomery Gentry, sang guest vocals on Tracy Byrd’s mid-2003 single “The Truth About Men”.
Blake Shelton’s Barn and Grill was the title of Shelton’s third studio album, released in 2004. Its lead-off single, the Harley Allen co-write “When Somebody Knows You That Well”, peaked at #37 on the country charts, while the follow-up “Some Beach” went on to become his third Number One hit, holding the Number One position for four weeks. This single was followed by a cover of Conway Twitty’s 1988 single “Goodbye Time”.Both this cover and its followup, “Nobody but Me”, reached Top Ten for Shelton as well. As with his first two albums, Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill was certified gold. Accompanying the album’s release was a video collection entitled Blake Shelton’s Barn & Grill: A Video Collection.On December 18, 2005, several of Shelton’s songs, including “Nobody but Me”, appeared on the TV movie The Christmas Blessing, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Rebecca Gayheart, Angus T. Jones and Rob Lowe.Shelton had a small role at the end of the movie, playing himself at a benefit concert, singing “Nobody but Me”.Shelton issued his fourth studio album, Pure BS, in early 2007.Unlike with his first three albums, which were produced entirely by Bobby Braddock, Shelton worked with Braddock, 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, respectively reaching #12 and #19. Also in late 2007, Shelton made appearances on television shows: first as a judge on the talent competition Nashville Star, and later on Clash of the Choirs.
“Home” was followed in August 2008 by the single “She Wouldn’t Be Gone”, his fourteenth chart entry and his fifth Number One hit, as well as the first time in his career that he had two consecutive Number Ones. “She Wouldn’t Be Gone” is the lead-off to Shelton’s fifth studio album, Startin Fires, which has also produced the single “I’ll Just Hold On”. This album also includes “Bare Skin Rug”, a duet with Lambert. It was produced by Scott Hendricks, except for one track which was produced by Brent Rowan, and another (“I Don’t Care”, which carried over from Pure BS) was produced by Braddock.
After “I’ll Just Hold On” fell from the chart, in late-October 2009, Shelton released a duet with Trace Adkins titled “Hillbilly Bone.” The song is the lead-off single and title track to Shelton’s EP, Hillbilly Bone, which was released on March 2, 2010. The song has become Shelton’s 16th consecutive Top 40 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart.
Also, check out this great collection of family reunion songs on youtube.