Life has changed for Blake Shelton. The days of the mullet are far behind him. He’s married to Gwen Stefani and has three stepsons, and his priorities in life in general have started to change. However, while he’s seemingly ,not as worried about staying relevant in the entertainment industry anymore, it seems he recently came to a hard realization about his place in pop culture after being referenced unfavorably in the DC Extended Universe, prompting the cowboy to call himself the “new Nickelback.”
For many people, having kids is part of what makes us realize we’re getting older and aren't as in touch with the younger generation. While that certainly could be the case in Blake Shelton’s life — there’s no doubt that his stepkids Kingston, Zuma and Apollo are way cooler than I ever was — Shelton is still a superstar who plays concerts for a living and is a fan favorite on the long-running singing competition The Voice.
So it took a little something extra to give Blake Shelton a reality check, and that apparently came via the HBO Max series Peacemaker, which Shelton’s driver had to tell him about, because the country singer was completely unfamiliar with The Suicide Squad spinoff. Shelton told People that after his driver informed him that he’d been the butt of a joke on the series, he asked:
‘What are they making fun of me for? I don't even know any of these people!’ He goes, 'Well, John Cena and this other character get in an argument about how dorky each other are, and she's making the point that John Cena's so white that she starts comparing him to people. And you're the first one. She says, 'You're just a Blake Shelton.’ I was like, oh my God, I'm the new Nickelback!
I can’t imagine it feels good to encounter anything in life that makes you think you’ve become the new Nickelback. To be fair to Peacemaker, though, Shelton has made a brand for himself as a beer-drinking, guitar-playing, can’t-do-the-Dougie country boy, so really, while we could argue the intricacies of what being “just a Blake Shelton” means, the “Old Red” singer has made his bed, and honestly he should lie in it proudly.
Is that to say that “God’s Country,” “Come Back as a Country Boy” and “Boys Round Here” are the country equivalent of Nickelback’s “Photograph” or “How You Remind Me”? I’m not here to shame anyone’s musical tastes or talents, but to me Blake Shelton has not actually reached the apex of obnoxiousness that the world seems to project onto Nickelback.
If Blake Shelton is happy with his life — which he clearly is, given the adorable moments he’s shared on social media — and with his music, then it shouldn’t matter what John Cena says. (You can’t see him anyway.)
Whether or not we’ll see Blake Shelton on The Voice when it returns for Season 22 has yet to be announced, but my prediction is that there might be a shakeup on the coaching panel. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news on that front, and be sure to check out our 2022 TV Premiere Schedule to see when all the new and returning shows are coming.
