Blake Shelton learned to laugh as a kid by being around not just his parents but also his older brother Richie and older sister Endy.
"My family, it's like they're entertainers. Every single one of them," Blake told Cowboys & Indians. "They are so funny, and so much fun to be around. I know that's where I got my sense of humor, and my ability to be an entertainer and not take myself so seriously. No one in my family takes themselves seriously."
Family matriarch Dorothy Shackleford needs no introduction because she and Blake co-wrote his song "Time for Me to Come Home," which debuted on his 2012 holiday album Cheers, It's Christmas. A year later, Shackleford penned a novel inspired by the song. That book was then adapted into the 2018 Hallmark movie "Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas," starring Megan Park and Josh Henderson.
"When I was making my Christmas album, I said, 'Mom, let's me and you write a song together, and you can sing it with me on my album,'" Shelton said on From Apple Music With Love, per CMT. "And there's your Lucille Ball moment. You can finally have your moment to be famous. We had no idea it was going to end up turning into a book deal for my mom."
'Read on to learn more about Shackleford's two oldest children: Richie, whose untimely death forever changed Blake's outlook on life, as well as a daugher named Endy Shelton Intrieri.
Richie Shelton (July 6, 1966 - Nov. 13, 1990)
Mark Von Holden/Variety via Getty Images
Blake's oldest brother, Richie, was their mom's only child with her first husband, Ronnie Musgrove. Richie was raised by Blake's dad, Dick Shelton.
"My dad, when he married my mom — my mom had a baby, my brother, Richie," Blake explained at the 2022 CRS (Country Radio Seminar) (as quoted by ABC News). "And he took Richie on and raised him from the time he was 1 years old and my brother never thought of my dad as anything other than his dad."
Ten years his senior, Richie became a hero to Blake. Just as Carrie Underwood's sisters shaped her musical taste at a formative time, Richie's record collection captured the imagination of his kid brother.
"His bedroom was right across the hallway from mine when I was little," Blake told "60 Minutes" in 2014 (as quoted by People). "And he was listening to Hank Williams, Jr. or Waylon, Lynyrd Skynyrd, or Bob Seger. I just, whatever was popular really, Richie loved all music. And I would be sitting there going, 'Man, that guy's my hero. That's the coolest guy. He's my big brother.' "
On Nov. 13, 1990, 24-year-old Richie died in a car accident along with his girlfriend and her young son. Just as his dad had warned him, Blake has never fully coped with the tragedy.
"My brother was my big brother. I mean, I wanted to be him," Blake told Cowboys & Indians. "I wanted to look like him, dress like him, listen to what he listened to, and be into the things he was into. So when he was killed in a car accident, it was literally like the world went silent. There was a void in my world all of a sudden, and I'm still not over it. I'm just used to it."
When a Season 23 contestant on "The Voice" named Noivas mentioned losing his brother at age 21, Shelton got candid once again about how loaing Richie still impacts his life and career.
"My brother, if he had been around, he would've freaked out if he had known what I had gone on to do," Shelton told the contestant. "He was just such a huge music fan. You could hear him coming six blocks away, the stereo blaring out of his truck."
At least one song co-written by Blake is about Richie. It's 2011's "Over You," a CMA and ACM award-winning hit for Blake's second wife, Miranda Lambert.
Blake's most touching public tribute to Richie may have come in May of 2023 at Blake dedicated his freshly-unveiled star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to his older brother.
Endy Shelton Intrieri (March 7, 1972 - Present)
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Shackleford's first child with Dick was a daughter named Endy.
Little is known about Blake's sister, except that she is —or was— an Oklahoma-based jewelry designer. She's married to Mike Intrieri, and they have a son named Ryan and a daughter named Jace.
Ever since he married Gwen Stefani, Shelton has felt closer to his sister, his mom and his stepdad, Mike Shackleford. (Blake and his sister's dad, Dick, died in 2012).
"She's got her arms around all of them," Shelton said at the 2022 CRS (as quoted by You). "I never experienced that with anybody really, because that's a lot to take on, and family's first for Gwen."
As a result, Intrieri and her children make regular appearance at the Shelton-Stefani family's Oklahoma ranch.
"It's very tribal," Stefani told Marie Claire. "Blake has a sister, she comes with her kids. We cook and get muddy and dirty. There are ATVs. Being a mother of three boys, it's kind of the perfect place."
