Blake Shelton Honors Hometown Radio Station With Platinum Album

Blake Shelton has shared a very special honor with the hometown radio station that gave him his very first break.

Shelton hails from Ada, Okla., and he gave local radio station KADA a platinum album plaque to commemorate sales of a million units of his album, Based on a True Story. KADA was the first radio station to ever play Shelton's music.

“Blake’s dad, Dick Shelton, was a car salesman next door to our station," KADA General Manager Roger Harris tells the Ada News. "He would bring early recordings on cassette and hound us to play them! And we did, not necessarily because they were great records, but because Blake was just a great guy who would play anywhere at any time for anyone that would listen."

Harris was an early believer in the star, but even he is surprised at the level of success Shelton has gone on to achieve. "I have introduced Blake on stage at every arts and crafts festival in the area, so he became a friend to us," he says. "It’s hard now to believe what a superstar he has become."

Shelton has also promised KADA a plaque for his current album, Bringing Back the Sunshine, when it goes platinum, though in today's commercial marketplace, that's anything but a given.

“Albums take longer now to go gold and platinum because fewer people buy hard copies of music," points out Larry Large, a friend and mentor to Shelton who moved to Nashville with him to help out early in his career. "As a matter of fact, most artists never sell that many units. So for Blake to sell a million units is quite an accomplishment.”

The cover of Bringing Back the Sunshine depicts the local water tower in Ada.

See Blake Shelton's Funniest Tweets

Blake Shelton's Lips Aren't Reserved for Miranda Lambert ...