Blake Shelton almost quit singing long before he had any success in country music, out of embarrassment. Shelton reveals that his mother, determined to help her young son showcase his talents, would have him sing in beauty pageants, even competing in some of them himself.
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"I was so embarrassed and humiliated by being in those pageants," Shelton says on Q with Tom Power (via Country Now), revaling that he probably did six or seven of them. "I said, 'Mom, I don't want to sing anymore because it's just embarrassing. And my friends are going to find out.'"
It didn't help that Shelton was usually the only boy in the entire pageant, and usually sang the same two songs.
"My two songs were 'Old Time Rock and Roll' and 'Cat Scratch Fever' by Ted Nugent," Shelton reveals. "Which, by the way, I had no clue, and neither did my mom apparently what that song was even about ...I think we literally thought it was about somebody's house cat scratching them and making them sick or something."
Fortunately, Shelton began singing again, but not for a few years.
"But I quit after that because it was just embarrassing," Shelton shares. "And it wasn't until I was probably 13, I guess, 12 or 13 that I started wanting to perform again."
Blake Shelton Celebrates Songwriters
Shelton has a hit single at radio with "Stay Country Or Die Tryin'." The song is on Shelton's latest For Recreational Use Only album, released earlier this year. Drew Parker, Graham Barham, Sam Ellis, and Beau Bailey wrote the song, not that Shelton cares.
"I've always said, from day one, I don't care who writes the song," Shelton tells CMT. "I don't care if it's somebody new or a veteran of the music industry. I could care less. I don't even look to see who they are. I just look for the best songs I can find.
"And because of that," he continues, "I think a lot of times it's unknown writers that just aren't getting their shot yet, and they've got a lot of great material. They just haven't been able to get their foot in the door. It's worked out that way a few times for me. At the end of the day, I'm a song guy. I love great country songs, and that's all I want to record."
