Gwen Stefani Admits That She Found Blake Shelton’s Singing Voice ‘Jarring’
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton seem like an unlikely duo when it comes to making music, but the married couple has successfully found a way to combine their unique styles. Shelton comes from country music, while Stefani’s famous ’90s band, No Doubt, became famous through the ska-punk scene. Recently, Stefani admitted that she found Shelton’s singing voice “jarring” when she first heard it. Here’s what she said.
Gwen Stefani admitted that she found Blake Shelton’s voice ‘jarring’ when she first heard it
Gwen Stefani loves collaborating with her husband, Blake Shelton. In 2024, they released “Purple Irises,” a beautiful (and personal) country ballad. While speaking to ALT 98.7 FM, Stefani described how she loves singing with Shelton now, even though she found his voice “jarring” when she first heard it.
“I would never, ever think that I would be on a Blake Shelton song in my life,” Stefani said. “Like, the first time I heard his voice when I met him on The Voice, and they were like, ‘OK, you guys are gonna do each other’s song. Like, you pick a song of Blake’s, Adam [Levine] is gonna do … we were all trading songs. It was, like, the intro thing, and I didn’t know anybody. I barely knew Adam. I was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna go listen to some Blake songs. I didn’t know one of his songs. I didn’t even know who he was.
Stefani explained that she started listening to Shelton’s music but didn’t like it at first. “So, I listened through, and all of the songs, his voice was so jarring to me,” she said. “It was so extreme. It sounded like I was at Knott’s Berry Farm. I was like, what’s happening?”
However, she soon realized Shelton’s unique voice was unlike any other she had ever heard. “The more I got to know his body of work, it was like, ‘Wow, this guy is … his actual voice is so unbelievably … especially being on The Voice … he is incredibly gifted,” Stefani continued.
The No Doubt singer says she ‘loves being in a band’ with her husband
When Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton first got together, they didn’t necessarily bond over music. Stefani was going through a divorce with fellow rock star Gavin Rossdale while Shelton was divorcing country music sensation Miranda Lambert. Stefani and Shelton appeared to bond more over their divorces than they did their music taste.
While speaking to ALT 98.7 FM, Stefani explained her lack of country music exposure as a girl growing up in Orange County. And her taste has grown since then. Stefani loves country music now, and she particularly loves singing it with Shelton.
“I love being in a band with Blake,” she said. “It feels like we’re in a band. When we first got together, you know, I didn’t really know much about country music. The first show I’d ever been to in my life, when my parents picked me up from Girl Scouts, it was like, ‘OK, me and my parents are gonna go see a show.’ … And we saw Emmylou Harris. That was the closest to country. … Meeting Blake, I learned a lot about country music in the last nine years.”
Blake Shelton didn’t know much about Gwen Stefani before getting to know her on ‘The Voice’
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton knew each other’s names through the industry, but they likely never would’ve crossed paths without NBC’s The Voice. An interviewer with Entertainment Tonight asked Shelton what a younger version of him would think about marrying the iconic No Doubt singer.
“I would have probably said, ‘Are you talking about that girl that holds up the orange in her video?’ I never understood until now that she’s from Orange County,” Shelton said. “My entire life of knowing who Gwen Stefani even was was, ‘Is that the girl that holds the orange up in the video? Oh my god, she’s so hot, but why is she obsessed with this freaking orange, you know?'”
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