Blake Shelton Admits He Misses ‘The Days When You Struggled’

Blake Shelton hasn't been hurting for money for many years as he started to make his mark in Nashville in the early 2000s with hit songs, which led to tours and eventually awards. Then in 2011, he became a TV star on NBC's The Voice, and money was never an issue after that. However, not long ago, Blake told me in an interview that he actually misses the days when his pockets were not so full of cash.

Shelton said, "All of it I miss, you know, from back in the days when you struggled. It's funny. Those are the memories that you cherish the most. Nobody talks about the great opportunities. They talk about the time they couldn't afford to get gas in their car and something they had to do to get by, you know?"

He adds, "'Cause those are the times that build character, I think, well, they were for me."

Blake will present his fellow Oklahoman, Toby Keith, with the "Country Icon Award" at the inaugural People's Choice Country Awards, which will take place in September at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House.

The award will honor Keith for "his decades-long career as a groundbreaking musician, humanitarian, and entrepreneur." The honor will also recognize his career as a musician, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. Toby has scored 32 No.1 singles and has sold 40 million albums.

Early in his career, almost 20 years ago (2004), Shelton toured and opened shows for Toby Keith nationwide. At the time, he told me, "Toby is one of those guys that is so famous and so big, and he is one of those artists that's just worldwide. You don't have to be a country music fan to be a Toby Keith fan. It's just way bigger than that. I step on stage with over 20 thousand people per night, and 15,000 of them may or may not have ever heard of me. Touring with Toby has probably been the biggest break I've had since I started doing this."

Blake Shelton is loved by many for his wonderful personality and fun-loving ways. He made people worldwide laugh every week on NBC's The Voice before his final season, which just wrapped up last month to a lot of fanfare, and praise for the country star who just received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame (5/12).

While he may not be a TV star anymore, he recently said quitting music was not an option. Shelton told People late last year, after it was first announced that he would be leaving The Voice, that he wouldn't leave music. He said, "Walking away from music, you might as well just poison me or something. That's not something I can go without. I can't help it."

He continued, "I'm not getting away from music! Now I can control the timing, and I'm not on anybody else's schedule when it comes to making a record or touring. I can fit it in a way that makes more sense for us."

Blake said of country music these days, "I'm really at a crossroads right now. The country music lane is changing so rapidly, and there's some really good stuff out there. These young kids coming up, it's amazing to see the music that they're making and how creative they are."

He added, "I'm enjoying watching what's happening and putting a song out once in a while. That's another reason that I'm excited to get some time back away from The Voice and concentrate more on, 'What kind of record do I want to make? Is it going to fit in? Do I care? Do I not care?'

While Blake's personality has always shined bright as we celebrate his 47th birthday today (6/18) on this Father's Day, we countdown what we believe are Blake's eighteen best songs.

An infectious song sung by two people in love. A duet with his soon-to-be wife Gwen Stefani, the song received the Collaborative Video of the Year accolade at the 2020 CMT Music Awards.