A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Friday honoring chart-topping country singing star Blake Shelton, 11 days before his final episode of “The Voice” as a coach.
Former “Voice” coaches Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine and Carson Daly, the host of the NBC singing competition, joined Shelton in speaking at the ceremony in front of the Amoeba Music store on Hollywood Boulevard.
Shelton married Stefani in 2021.
The star is the 2,755th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
Shelton called the honor “a shock.”
“This was never on my radar,” he told the crowd gathered for the event. “I had a dream of being a country singer and hearing myself on the radio one day. And I never, ever thought that path would lead me here.”
Shelton has 28 songs that have topped the country charts in a career that began in 2001 with the release of “Austin,” which topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for five weeks.
He has sold more than 52 million singles and 13 million albums and his songs have been streamed nearly 11 billion times globally.
Shelton, 46, has received six Academy of Country Music Awards, three American Music Awards and 10 Country Music Association Awards.
He is scheduled to perform on the opening night of the two-night Coastal Country Jam on Sept. 16 at Marina Green Park in Long Beach.
Shelton has been a coach on “The Voice” since its 2011 debut. He is the last of the original judges remaining with the program. He has coached nine singers to victories, including Bryce Leatherwood, who won in the fall season.
Shelton told the syndicated entertainment news program “Access Hollywood” that he is leaving “The Voice” to spend more time with his family, specifically his three stepchildren.
“I think being a stepdad has changed my perspective in that I’m not the first person that I think about anymore,” Shelton said. “Even to the small little things when you go, ‘I think I’ll do this,’ the very next thought is always, ‘Well, wait a minute. How’s that going work?’ Or, ‘What will they think?’ Or, ‘How will that affect a schedule?'”
