Blake Shelton is opening up about his decision to leave The Voice. Shelton joined the show in 2011, remaining a coach for the first 23 seasons, before leaving in 2023. Now, the 48-year-old is opening up about the decision, and why he knew it was time to walk away.
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"It took about a year before I even was open to the idea of, 'What's next?'" Shelton admits to People.
In fact, it was a trip to Italy with his wife, Gwen Stefani and her three sons that in hindsight showed Shelton how tired he was.
"It was incredible," Shelton recalls to American Songwriter, revealing how exhausted he looks in the pictures. "But to get burned out in this business, I think you got to be super lucky and blessed. I have been, but at that point, it was like, 'Golly, I just feel like I'd just been on this hamster wheel.'"
Shelton knew it was time to walk away when the show no longer brought him the joy it once did.
"If I can't even be happy being able to be lucky enough to do this, it is time for someone else to have this chair," Shelton says. "I think Reba took my spot."
Blake Shelton's New Musical Chapter
Shelton could have just stayed more or less retired, and he might have, if not for Post Malone. It was when Post Malone asked Shelton to join him on "Pour Me A Drink" for his F-1 Trillion album, that Shelton realized he wasn't ready to walk away.
"[It] lit a fire under me," Shelton admits.
After realizing the fun he had with Post Malone, Shelton returned to the studio, to begin working on what is his new album, For Recreational Use Only, out on Friday, May 9.
"I started thinking, 'Man, what am I doing? Nobody gets to do this,'" Shelton admits. "I need to make a record. That was fun. What I realized is that I'd had the break that I needed."
Shelton introduced the record with "Texas," a song that is now his 30th No. 1 hit.
"I've always been a nerd for country music stats. Early on I thought it was important to know these things about my heroes," Shelton says, referencing George Strait's 60 chart-topping singles. "Now to have my own chapter where I can go, 'Man, this is my catalog and my legacy.' . . . It really is exciting."
