Blake Shelton says girlfriend Gwen Stefani has 'fallen in love' with country music after suffering 'music abuse' as a child
It's been over four years since Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani started dating each other after meeting on 'The Voice', and the country singer has revealed that she has finally become an ardent fan of the genre.
Stefani, best known for pop hits such as 'What You Waiting For?' 'Hollaback Girl,' and 'Cool', seems to now have fully embraced country music. She even released a duet 'Nobody But You' with Shelton on his latest album 'Fully Loaded: God's Country'.
Shelton, however, said that his influence in this shift is minimal, and that it was Stefani herself who is responsible for the change, joking that she spent her initial years suffering "music abuse".
Speaking at the iHeart Music event, Shelton, 43, addressed Stefani's newfound love for country and said, "It’s not to do with me or anything. It’s just she grew up in Anaheim and moved to Los Angeles — she didn’t hear a lot of country music is all I’m saying."
"Her parents abused her with this other music they played," he continued. "It was music abuse, I’m telling you! She just wasn’t exposed to a lot of country music, but now it’s all she listens to. I hope she’s OK with me saying that."
Asked about the "countriest" part of his girlfriend, 50, he replied, "There’s a photo of her when she was a kid with a cowboy hat on holding two kittens — that’s about as country of a thing that I can think of."
"But you know what? Since we’ve been together, this girl has literally fallen in love with country music. It’s all that she listens to, it’s all that’s on in her car," he added.
Shelton also spoke at length about 'Fully Loaded', which features a mix of his hits and new material, and revealed it had had a profound effect on him.
"(The album) re-energized me and reminded me I’m still a country singer first," he said. "There’s a whole new generation coming up and they’re all great and I love them, so you start feeling like, 'Oh, I got to make room for those guys.' So, to have something like 'God’s Country’... I won't (stop making music)."