Blake Shelton's much buzzed-about plan to perform a few songs last Friday (Aug. 11) at the Ole Red location in his hometown of Tishomingo, Okla. included the promise of an unnamed artist's public debut. The mystery person ended up being 17-year-old Kingston Rossdale— Gwen Stefani's oldest of three children with Bush singer and guitarist Gavin Rossdale and a stepson to Shelton.
Based on a plethora of clips from the night, Rossdale's acoustic set of originals leaned into pop-rock without sounding derivative of the music that made his parents or stepdad famous.
Kingstons first ever stage performance! @gwenstefani was a nervous and very proud momma tonight. pic.twitter.com/L0JycfSNgj
— Team Blake (@Team_Blake) August 12, 2023
After Rossdale thanked his responsive crowd, Shelton took the stage, hugged his stepson and unveiled another surprise— the newcomer wasn't going to be the evening's headliner, after all.
"I mean, I'm not gonna let him close out the show. You know what I mean?" Shelton joked. "I'm still in competition mode a little bit."
Shelton then started playing No Doubt's "Don't Speak" on acoustic guitar before being joined by Stefani, who wrapped up the family affair by singing one of her signature hits.
Shortly before announcing his exit from The Voice, Shelton told Entertainment Tonight that Stefani and her three children —Kingston, 14-year-old Zuma and 9-year-old Apollo— rank atop his priority list.
"Look, I love music and I love The Voice. 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," Shelton said.
Stefani was married to Rossdale's father from 2002 to 2015. She met Shelton on The Voice in 2015 and they bonded in part by helping each other work through breakups. Shelton divorced fellow country star Miranda Lambert in July 2015.
