Blake Shelton, the adored “The Voice” coach and a legend of country music, experienced a tragic event when he was just 14 years old that forever altered his life. His older brother Richie Shelton tragically died in an auto accident in Oklahoma on November 13, 1990, at the age of 24. Blake still cherishes the memory of his brother and finds various ways to cope with his grief.
Richie has been a subject of open candor from the “God’s Country” singer in interviews, social media posts, TV appearances, and even in his music. Blake asserts that the only other dreadful event in his life that has come close to measuring up to the devastation of his brother’s passing so far is the divorce he experienced from his first ex-wife, Kaynette Gern. In an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS in 2014, he said, “I put my divorce up there with my brother’s death and that was a tough, tough call to make.”.
The musician also recalled some advice his father gave him after Richie passed away. You will never, ever get over this happening, Blake’s father told him. In other words, you’ll have to learn to adjust to it. And Blake has achieved more than just “getting used to it”; in spite of his constant pain, the actor has learned that one should never take life for granted and has motivated countless others with his story.
Blake now sees things differently as a result of Richie’s passing.
Over the years, Blake Shelton’s loss has given him a new perspective on life and introduced him to people who have also lost a loved one.
Blake expressed how the tragic event “changed [his] life forever” and taught him how priceless every moment is in a tweet on November 17, 2017, the 27th anniversary of his brother’s passing. He emphasized in his tweet that “life is precious and there’s no time like RIGHT NOW to go for it. ”.
Through their shared loss of a brother on May 1, 2023, Blake and NOIVAS (Savion Wright), a contestant from Season 23 of “The Voice,” grew close. The experienced judge said to the aspiring performer, “My brother, he would have freaked out if he had known what I went on to do,” during a practice.
You could hear his truck’s stereo blaring as he approached from six blocks away, Blake continued. Richie admired music.
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert, a fellow country star and Blake’s wife at the time, collaborated on the song “Over You,” which was written for Blake’s brother. The song’s creation was Miranda’s idea in the first place; at the time, she wanted to aid in her ex-husband’s recovery after he confided in her about the traumatic event.
Blake had never before attempted to express his sorrow through music before “Over You.”. Miranda sings on the painful song, “But you went away / How dare you, I miss you / They say I’ll be OK / But I’m not going to ever get over you.”. Blake has given the song several live performances despite not singing on the recording.
Miranda provided some background on the lyrics in a 2012 interview with People. As she recalled, “Blake said Christmas wasn’t fun for a long time because of all the memories — the presents and the time together, and then it all just going black in your mind.”. According to the Grammy winner, Richie’s old tapes were given to Blake by his father, and as she and Blake were working on their song together, he made the joke, “Richie would’ve been so pissed I got all those records!”.
