Blake Shelton: Have You Heard His Tim McGraw Flask Story?
Before Blake Shelton was a superstar, he was a budding country star with big dreams. While Blake scored a number one song with his debut single “Austin” in 2001, it…
Before Blake Shelton was a superstar, he was a budding country star with big dreams. While Blake scored a number one song with his debut single "Austin" in 2001, it took some years before he became the household name he is today.
I've been interviewing Blake since the very beginning of his career, and he has always been an entertaining interview, to say the least. Not once did I sit down with him where I didn't laugh and have a good time.
Shelton once told me that before he was a big star about what he considered was his "claim to fame." It all went down one night backstage at an early CMA Awards. Blake told me, "My claim to fame for a long time and this is quite a reputation that I cut out for myself around the music industry. I was about two years into this business at this level as far as having hits and things, and I was standing backstage at the CMA's. I think this must have been around 2002."
RELATED: Blake Shelton Is 'So Proud' Of Gwen Stefani's New Song
He continued, "I was sharing a dressing room with Gary Allan and some other people, and there was a knock on the door, and I just stood up and went over and answered the door, and Tim McGraw was standing out there in the hallway. One of his people had knocked on my door, and they tugged on his arm. He turned to me and said, 'Hey man, you bring something out here to drink, don't ya?' I go, 'Yeah, I got my flask, and it's just something for nerves, 'cause I get nervous on those things.' And Tim McGraw took a drink out of my flask, and that was my claim to fame for a long time that Tim McGraw actually drank out of my flask."
He added, "That was a big deal to me; remember that movie Shawshank Redemption? I had become the guy that could get things at award shows, and big stars were coming to me for help. That was awesome for me."
We should note that McGraw quit drinking in 2008 and has been sober ever since.
Blake Shelton is loved by many for his wonderful personality and fun-loving ways. He made people worldwide laugh every week on NBC's The Voice before his final season, which just wrapped up last month to a lot of fanfare, and praise for the country star who just received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame (5/12).
While he may not be a TV star anymore, he recently said quitting music was not an option. Shelton told People late last year, after it was first announced that he would be leaving The Voice, that he wouldn't leave music. He said, "Walking away from music, you might as well just poison me or something. That's not something I can go without. I can't help it."
He continued, "I'm not getting away from music! Now I can control the timing, and I'm not on anybody else's schedule when it comes to making a record or touring. I can fit it in a way that makes more sense for us."
Blake said of country music these days, "I'm really at a crossroads right now. The country music lane is changing so rapidly, and there's some really good stuff out there. These young kids coming up, it's amazing to see the music that they're making and how creative they are."
He added, "I'm enjoying watching what's happening and putting a song out once in a while. That's another reason that I'm excited to get some time back away from The Voice and concentrate more on, 'What kind of record do I want to make? Is it going to fit in? Do I care? Do I not care?'
While Blake's personality has always shined bright as we celebrate his 47th birthday today (6/18) on this Father's Day, we countdown what we believe are Blake's eighteen best songs.
RELATED: Blake Shelton Reveals Plans For Life After 'The Voice'
18. "Come Back As A Country Boy" (2021)
WBBlake said of the song when it came out, "It's a song about just having so much pride about being country and living the country lifestyle that, even if you come back to life, you wouldn't do it unless you could be country again... If you can't do it again — if you're lucky enough to come back to life — you'd rather just stay dead."
17. "No Body" (2022)
WBA wonderful ode to 1990s country music. When filming the music video, Shelton wore a cowboy hat and a fake mullet, to mimic the appearance the singer had very early in his career.
16. "Came Here to Forget" (2016)
WBReleased as the lead single from Blake's tenth studio album, ‘If I'm Honest.’ It was hailed for its progressive production and his expressive performance.
15. "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking" (2010)
WBThe title says it all. It's a ballad in which the narrator wants to know the characteristics his lover's hiding from him (e.g. "Do you paint your toes 'cause you bite your nails?"). It was another chart-topper for Shelton.
14. "God Gave Me You" (2011)
WBBlake has a lot of songs with "God" in them; in this one Shelton heard Dave Barnes' version of the song on a contemporary Christian station and said that it had inspired him to propose to then-girlfriend Miranda Lambert.
13. "Minimum Wage" (2020)
WBFollowing the live debut of "Minimum Wage" in December 2020, the general public described the money-centric lyrics as insensitive and tone-deaf, amidst the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shelton later addressed the criticism, revealing he felt that some people misinterpreted the song.
12. "Lonely Tonight" (featuring Ashley Monroe) (2014)
WB"Lonely Tonight" is a bittersweet song about a one-night stand, with Blake and Monroe playing ex-lovers who reconnect for one last night. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
11. "I'll Name the Dogs" (2017)
WBThis song was released on September 11, 2017, as the first single of Shelton's 2017 album ‘Texoma Shore.’
10. "Some Beach" (2004)
WBOn this fun twist of the song title, Blake sings of dealing with frustrations, such as being flipped off in traffic on the highway and having to wait all afternoon at the dentist's office, by wishing that he were "on some beach, somewhere."
9. "Dive Bar" (with Garth Brooks) (2019)
WBt’s never a bad thing when Garth Brooks asks you to join him on a duet and this song hits the mark. This song was released in 2019 in part to promote Brooks’ "Dive Bar Tour."
8. "Boys 'Round Here"(featuring Pistol Annies and Friends) (2013)
WBA fun collaboration with his then-wife Miranda Lambert and her trio, the Pistol Annies. Shelton said of the song, "That song had me from the first because I thought about all the guys I know back in Tishomingo. None of them listened to The Beatles. They listened to Hank, or these days you'll hear Jason Aldean blaring out of somebody's car coming from a mile away. It's just how they are, and that song is just written exactly how I live."
7. "Honeybee" (2011)
WBAn up-tempo joy of a song that reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in July 2011. The song also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Solo Performance, but it lost to Taylor Swift's "Mean."
6. "Hillbilly Bone"(featuring Trace Adkins) (2009)
WBA monster song and a big hit featuring Blake and his buddy Trace Adkins, who like Shelton stands 6’6. The song won the 2010 Academy of Country Music award for "Vocal Event of the Year," giving Blake his first Academy of Country Music award.
5. "Ol' Red" (2002)
WBA true classic for Shelton. This song is a remake. It was first recorded by George Jones, then Kenny Rogers but it was Blake that put the real stamp on it and it’s one of his signature songs.
4. "Happy Anywhere" (featuring Gwen Stefani) (2020)
WBThe second duet from Blake and Gwen. The song was recently nominated for an Academy of Country Music awards and Shelton joked with us if it didn’t win, the awards were rigged. It did not win. The lyrics pertain to the couple's relationship and describe being able to find happiness anywhere, which alludes to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. "Austin" (2001)
WBBlake’s very first single and his first number one song. "Austin" tied a record set by Billy Ray Cyrus in 1992. Cyrus' "Achy Breaky Heart" stayed atop the chart for five weeks, setting the mark for an artist's debut single in the Broadcast Data Systems era of the chart.
2. "God's Country" (2018)
WBA powerful song. Shelton first heard the song while working on his farm in Oklahoma. He said at the time, "I had to stop and just listen to this song because the song was talking to me about a place that I was in at that moment, which was a place in the middle of nowhere that meant something to me that probably nobody else could ever understand, what that is and what it is inside of me and what my connection is to the land."
1."Nobody but You" (with Gwen Stefani) (2020)
WBAn infectious song sung by two people in love. A duet with his soon-to-be wife Gwen Stefani, the song received the Collaborative Video of the Year accolade at the 2020 CMT Music Awards.
