Blake Shelton’s been around the music industry for a couple of decades now, but at the time he rolled his mullet onto the country scene in 2001 with hits like “Austin” and “Ol’ Red,” his distant-future wife Gwen Stefani was working with her band No Doubt on their fifth studio album. The ‘90s ska and alt music scene was apparently nowhere on the cowboy’s radar, however, as Shelton recently shared just how clueless he was about her career before meeting Stefani on The Voice.
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton celebrated their first wedding anniversary in July, and this musical power couple is as adorable as ever, with the country singer consistently laying on the charm and each singer gushing over their spouse’s musical talent. So what if you’d told Shelton back then that he’d actually one day be married to the “Just a Girl” singer? He told ET:
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. 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?'
Oranges played a big part in No Doubt’s early work, as the band paid homage to their roots in Orange County, California. This is fairly common knowledge to anyone familiar with the band, and somehow Blake Shelton is only now finding out the citrus had meaning. Also, while oranges were featured in a number of No Doubt music videos, it’s much more likely that the country superstar was referring to the cover art of the 16-million-sold album Tragic Kingdom, in which Gwen Stefani is actually holding up an orange. Oh, Blakey.
This admission is not the first time Blake Shelton has been lacking in knowledge when it comes to his wife’s music. Last year the singer appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show with his fellow coaches from The Voice, and as he and Nick Jonas faced off against John Legend and Shelton’s rival Kelly Clarkson in a game of “Throw Me a Line,” in which the “Since U Been Gone” singer beat the cowboy to the punch when lyrics from Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” popped up. You can check out that amusing clip below:
Back on Season 16 of The Voice, Lili Joy auditioned with Gwen Stefani’s song “Cool,” which Blake Shelton immediately turned for. As the audition continued, Kelly Clarkson kept yelling to him (per Country Living) that she was singing his then-girlfriend’s song, and though the OG coach said he was aware that was the case, it really did appear that Clarkson saved his ass on that one.
Kelly Clarkson won’t be there to protect him this time around, though, as the daytime talk show host has stepped away from the NBC singing competition, just as Gwen Stefani is rejoining the panel for Season 22, along with newcomer Camila Cabello and veteran John Legend. Stefani has said it feels different working on the show now that she and Blake Shelton are married, while the country singer had his own strategic reasons for being excited to work alongside Stefani.
The Voice Season 22 premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, September 19, on NBC. Check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see when other new and returning shows are premiering.
