Blake Shelton

With a voice as big as the great plains of his Oklahoma home, Blake Shelton became a country/pop crossover sensation straight out of the gate in 2001. His very first single, “Austin,” was a #1 smash, a romantic power ballad whose nimble narrative set the tone for an ongoing string of successes. “Ol’ Red” is another richly rendered story-song, a Cool Hand Luke-flavored saga with a greasy, swampy feel to match its tale of a Southern convict outwitting a bloodhound. And you’d better have an industrial-size box of tissues by your side for “The Baby,” a good old-fashioned, four-hanky tearjerker that gave Shelton his second visit to the top of the charts.

Blake Shelton digs into his down-home roots in Next Steps.

Blake Shelton may have a habit of cropping up on the pop charts, but don’t think for a second he’s not a real-deal country boy. On “Kiss My Country Ass” he raises a tall cold one to the staples of country living: front-porch-sittin’, guitar-pickin’, and moonshine-sippin’. Want a classic country drinking song? “The More I Drink” puts a comic twist on the tradition, with a reformed boozer running down his reasons for quitting. And you know you’re carrying some serious cred when you’re singing “The Last Country Song” alongside John Anderson and George Jones, but don’t let the title fool you — as long as Blake’s around, you can bet there’ll be more.

Sure, it probably hasn’t hurt Blake Shelton’s rise to fame that he’s a hunky, 6’ 5” heart-stealer. (You think just any old crooner could’ve snagged Miranda Lambert?) But at the end of the day, it’s the songs that really reach all those fans who’ve filled Shelton’s shelves with gold records. The songs and the singer — whether Shelton’s deep, hearty tones are booming out a honky-tonk hell-raiser or carefully caressing a gentle love ballad, he delivers every tune and inhabits every character with the knack of a natural-born storyteller. From the redneck pride of “Hillbilly Bone” to the tender touch of “Home,” here’s a big batch of Blake that hits all the high-water marks from Shelton’s first — but surely not last — decade in the spotlight.