Blake Shelton was born Blake Tollison Shelton on June 18, 1976 in Ada, Oklahoma. Blake was the youngest of three siblings born to Dick Shelton and Dorothy Shelton-Shackleford. His siblings was named Endy and Richey. Blake was a very energetic child, he quoted that “cats and dogs was boring to me” and he would go find other animals such as snakes, bugs and other. His sister said they thought he would be a vet or some kind of scientist as he would experiment on anything.

When he was younger, his mother would enter him into beauty pageants so he could explore his singing abilities, very much dismay to Blake who was embarrassed by them because he would be the only boy in the pageants. One day he told his mom that he didn’t want to sing anymore because of the pageants.

By the age of twelve, he learned how to played the guitar and his mother pushed him back toward his music. She heard about Country Music Palace and sent a tape of Blake singing and got a opportunity to sing on the show. His parents was very proud of Blake’s singing and the crowd went wild for him. They hired him to play on the show when he could.

His parents was going through a divorce during this period, Blake quotes this being one of the three toughest things he went through. His sister quoting being a sad period because the unity was gone. But for the kids sakes Dick and Dorothy made sure they stayed friends and parents. Even to this day, they spend holidays together.

In 1991, his father picked him from school with the tragic news that his brother, Richey, had been killed in automobile accident that morning. Blake said this was the second time in his life that he saw his dad cry. Blake had lost who he consider his hero. Blake said it was a gunshot to head, it’s hard for him to talk about it. Also, he said he grew up after this, it was a difference that everybody noticed. He consider everyday lucky and new determination to make his dreams come true.

At 16, he made music his main focus and he was the guy that played at weddings or entertainment for something. You would called Blake Shelton in Ada. He eventually won a state wide competition.

At 17, Shelton met songwriter Mae Boren Axton, she wrote Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel. She had returned to her Oklahoma roots for a tribute show honoring her in Ada. Shelton was part of the entertainment lineup and Axton told him to move to Nashville if he wanted a successful country music singing career. Two weeks out of high school in 1994, he packed his guitar and headed there.

Blake would find out that getting a deal in Nashville wasn’t as easy as performing in Ada. The only person Blake knew in Nashville was Mae Boren Axton. Mae Boren Axton started to make phones calls for P