Known among 21st-century country megastars for his singularly amiable persona, Blake Shelton makes music shaped by his rich Southern baritone, wry humor, and salt-of-the-earth relatability. And that’s only part of his success: The playful charisma he brings to his long-running appointment as a coach on The Voice has made him Nashville’s most high-profile ambassador to the cultural mainstream. Born in Oklahoma in 1976, Shelton started working the local bar circuit when he was in high school. After relocating to Nashville, he scored a hit with 2001’s “Austin,” a torchy ballad about lovers playing phone tag. In 2004’s Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, he found a sweet spot between the heartland hat country and amped-up Nashville, becoming a versatile fixture on the country charts by playing both the party-loving playboy and the star-eyed gentleman with ease. When his marriage to singer/songwriter Miranda Lambert dissolved in 2015, Shelton’s music took a more introspective turn. His 2016 album, If I’m Being Honest, was filled with songs about finding meaning and love, and demonstrated his comfort being vulnerable in the spotlight (which only turned more blinding when he started dating fellow Voice coach and pop star Gwen Stefani). In the late 2010s, Shelton scored a nod as People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” and racked up an epic run of chart-topping singles. Yet even though the hardworking Okie is now a household name, his music has never lost its down-home charm.