Just under three weeks after Blake Shelton announced he was leaving Warner Music Nashville, his label home since the start of his recording career in the early 2000s, BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville announced that it had signed the country superstar to a new deal.
“Blake is one of the biggest personalities and presences in media,” says Jon Loba, BMG’s president of frontline recordings for the Americas, in a statement. “America first got to know him through incredible, timeless songs and live shows and then fell in love with him and his sense of humor through TV. We are so excited he’s joining the BMG Global family and cannot wait to share his incredible new music with the world. He’s been laser-focused on delivering some of the best of his career and it shows. We have been dancing through the office, literally not just figuratively, since we heard the first couple songs he played for us.”
Added Shelton in his statement, “A huge thanks to Jon, Peter, JoJamie, Katie, and the BMG family for being as excited as me about this new chapter we will write together. I felt their passion and love for music when I met with them, and I knew I was home. I am ready to go!!”
Shelton becomes part of a BMG country roster that, under the BBR Music Group’s different imprints, includes such artists as Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Jason Aldean and Dustin Lynch. BMG got back into the country music business in a big way when it acquired BBR Music Group in 2017.
Shelton’s Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace runs for six shows during the Feb. 5-15 before he heads out on a “Friends & Heroes Tour” beginning Feb. 27 in Lexington, Kentucky, with a lineup of opening acts that includes Craig Morgan, Deana Carter, Trace Adkins and Emily Ann Roberts.
Shelton has 28 No. 1 country singles under his belt. His first single and album were with Giant Records in 2001, and with that label going under, Warner took over promotion of “Austin” and turned it into the first of his more than two dozen chart-toppers. His last full album with Warner was 2021’s “Body Language.” Meanwhile, his 23 seasons as a coach on “The Voice” turned him into a major television star.
The singer may be headed for another, with some help, as he currently has a hit with a featured appearance on Post Malone’s “Pour Me a Drink,” which rose to No. 6 on Billboard’s country airplay chart this week.