Blake Shelton admits to feeling burned out in 2023 when he quit The Voice. But one music icon lit the fire under his belly again.
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In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Blake Shelton explained how he went from feeling burned out to heading right back into the studio fired up. And it's all thanks to a collab with a more controversial country figure and feeling inspired by a country music hero.
It's Post Malone and George Strait. Let me explain.
He admitted that he felt completely burned out when he left The Voice in 2023. After he gave all he could give, he had to leave the show and spend some more time with his family to recuperate. But he was still feeling in a bit of a rut.
"It took about a year before I even was open to the idea of, 'What's next?'" he explained to the outlet. When he was mulling over this, Blake Shelton received an unexpected call from Post Malone.
Posty called Shelton to enquire about a collab on his upcoming album, F-1 Trillion. The single "Pour Me A Drink" was the second song on the album. It was a pretty successful song, and Shelton admits that the success of the song "lit a fire" under him.
Fired Up, Blake Headed Straight For The Studio
It turns out that seeing the song become so successful was what Blake Shelton needed to relight the musical spark within him. I'm sure the fun he had producing the song helped spur the encouragement, too.
Apparently, this is what it took to get him back into the studio. He was inspired, fired up, and ready to produce more music.
Lo and behold, we can now look forward to For Recreational Use Only. It's out tomorrow, and I'm pretty damn excited for it.
His single "Texas" has also been met with incredible success. It's become Shelton's 30th No. 1 song, which he was delighted and grateful to share to Instagram. If "Pour Me A Drink" got him back into the studio, then I'm sure "Texas" will keep him there.
"I've always been a nerd for country music stats. Early on I thought it was important to know these things about my heroes," he said of George Strait's 60 No. 1 hits. "Now to have my own chapter where I can go, 'Man, this is my catalog and my legacy.' . . . It really is exciting."
"It really is exciting," he said after acknowledging this huge milestone.
Well, here's to 30 more.
