In honor of his win on The Voice, we’re making Blake Shelton our Opry Performance of the Week.
Country singer Blake Shelton’s career began back in 2001 with his debut single “Austin.” The song, which was a leadoff of his first major self-titled record, reached No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and later led the album to gold. Since then, Shelton has gone on to release nine more studio albums and become a judge on the hit show The Voice.
Before this season of The Voice, Shelton had coached his protégés to victory four seasons out of 10. Season 11 premiered with a whopping 49 contestants split between the four coaches — Shelton, Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, and Miley Cyrus — before that number was narrowed down to the final four. The ultimate sing-off for the winning prize money and a signed record deal was particularly close this year between Team Adam contestants Billy Gilman and Josh Gallagher, Team Blake contestant Sundance Head, and Team Alicia contestant We McDonald. In the end, with the odds against him, Team Blake’s Sundance Head was able to prevail against the heavily favored Billy Gilman, giving Blake his fifth win of the show’s run.
In recognition of Shelton’s latest win, we’ve picked his performance of “Gonna” live at the Grand Ole Opry as our Performance of the Week.
“Gonna” was released as the fourth and final single from Shelton’s ninth studio album, Bringing Back the Sunshine. The song topped the Country Airplay Chart later in 2015, making it Shelton’s 16th consecutive No.1. Watch the video for a dynamic live performance of the hit song — and a clear indication why Shelton can coach his contestants to the top.
