Blake Shelton Says Family Is His No. 1 Priority Now
One year after marrying Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton is making it clear that she's No. 1. The "No Body" singer says music and television work are just not urgent priorities like they used to be.
The result might be new music at a slower pace from Shelton, who spoke to Entertainment Tonight about it all.
"I'm having fun putting out songs when I feel like it, and luckily, the record label allows me to do that," he says.
"No Body" is Shelton's first new single released in 2022, after averaging two a year for five years and up to four in 2014-16. Body Language is his latest album, released in May of 2021. That was his first album of all new material since 2017. Before that, he averaged an album a year for six years. Two seasons of The Voice each year definitely slowed him down, but now he's focused on his household.
"Look, I love music and I love The Voice," the 46-year-old tells ET. "I love all the cool things I get to do with my job, but those things all take a backseat now to Gwen and the kids, and it's just a new phase of my life."
While Shelton doesn't have any kids of his own, he's been an active part of Stefani's three boys' (Kingston, Apollo and Zuma) lives. The spend significant time on his ranch in Oklahoma, and seem to be thriving in the rural environment after being raised primarily in Los Angeles before.
Next month, Shelton will be able to combine all of his priorities. He and Stefani are set to serve as coaches on the 22nd season of The Voice, starting Sept. 19 on NBC. The country singer is the only coach who's been on the panel each season, beginning in 2011.
So, Shelton is slowing the output of new music, but not turning off the spout.
"I wanna keep my music side of what I do alive from now 'til they [the fans] fire me," he says.