There was a part of Blake Shelton that was ready to ride off into the sunset.
After all, he had achieved almost everything he could have wanted to as a country artist, and he had also spun his musical career into a judge role on NBC’s The Voice. He stayed on the show for a whopping 23 seasons, and then ultimately decided to move on from it in May of 2023.
Since then, the country singer has really just been enjoying life in general after his pseudo-retirement. And by that, I just mean that he walked away from being a judge on The Voice. That decision, albeit a hard one, has led Shelton to have a lot more free time on his hands.
But to be fair, this wasn’t completely out of the blue… back in 2022 he told fans at Country Radio Seminar that he was probably nearing the end of his run. And that he had been preparing for it for a while now. He confessed that when it was time to go, he was just gonna… go.
“I’ve always been prepared for when this ends and my song doesn’t get played anymore, and it’s over… it’s always over at some point. I’ve always been prepared for that and I’ve braced myself for it. I learned to accept it a few years ago, maybe three or four or five years ago that it’s coming.
I want to make great records and the moment that I feel like I’m really not that relevant anymore, I don’t think I want to make them anymore. The clock’s ticking… I’m not somebody that’s ever going to beat my head against the wall, because this room, these people, this industry has given me way, way more than I ever deserved, and I know that and I’m thankful and I’m proud of that.”
So when he did exit The Voice, he wasn’t in a rush to jump into anything else, as he told People Magazine.
The holding pattern that Shelton was in led him to spend a lot of time with his wife, Gwen Stefani, and their three sons. It really wasn’t until he got a call – almost out of the blue – from Post Malone saying that he wanted Shelton to join him on a collaboration. That collab ended up being the hit song “Pour Me A Drink,” which was released as the second single ahead of Post’s F-1 Trillion album release last summer.
Blake Shelton didn’t expect that the song would get the positive response that it did, and the country singer credits its success with getting him back into the swing of things:
“It lit a fire under me.”
Not long after he recorded “Pour Me A Drink” with Malone, Blake Shelton headed to the studio himself and put together his 13th LP – For Recreational Use Only. The 48-year-old feels as though he’s playing with house money, and he surprised himself more than anything with the new project.
“I don’t feel like I have anything to prove anymore. I used to be almost afraid of my success because I was afraid of losing it somehow… but now it’s just fun for me.”
Another way that Blake Shelton is finding a way to have fun is through helping lift younger artists up in the country music world. Now, to be clear, Post Malone was probably able to step into the country genre without much help. He’s instead looking to help pull artists up that might not be as well known, and Shelton is likely going to utilize his new singing competition series, The Road, to do more of that.
But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how Shelton is acting as a helping hand. He just wants to give back to the genre that has given so much to him. And if you want to call this period of Shelton’s career a comeback (I’ve heard the phrase “don’t call it a comeback” plenty of times), then the “Boys ‘Round Here” singer evidently has Post Malone to thank.
“Pour Me A Drink”
