Blake Shelton is speaking out about his latest accomplishment. Shelton is celebrating his 31st No. 1 single, with “Stay Country or Die Tryin’.” The song is from his For Recreational Use Only album, out last year.
“Stay Country or Die Tryin'” follows “Texas,” Shelton’s 30th No. 1 chart-topping hit, and the debut single from For Recreational Use Only. The news of his 31st No. 1 hit comes only a few days before Shelton begins his Live in Vegas residency on January 15.
“I’ve been around long enough to know you never take moments like this for granted, and a No. 1 radio single is always worth celebrating,” says Shelton. “I love this song, and I’m so grateful the fans do too. There’s no better way to kick off the Vegas residency on Thursday than with ‘Stay Country or Die Tryin’’ at the top of the charts.”
Shelton also spoke out about his latest accomplishment on social media.
“’Stay Country Or Die Tryin!!!!’ Wow thank you country radio for making this song No. 1,” he writes. “And thank you to the fans for listening! I love y’all so damn much!!!!!!!”
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The Story Behind Blake Shelton’s “Stay Country Or Die Tryin'”
“Stay Country or Die Tryin'” is written by Drew Parker, Graham Barham, Sam Ellis, and Beau Bailey. But Shelton resonates with the song as much as if he wrote it himself.
“When I heard ‘Stay Country or Die Tryin,’’ it took me back to the first time I heard ‘Ol’ Red’ or ‘God’s Country,’” the Oklahoma native says. “It’s got so much energy and is full of those little catchphrases and things we say out in the country. I absolutely fell in love with it. I’m proud of this recording—and I love singing it live even more.”
Shelton also admits he was trying to follow in the footsteps of some of his musical heroes, when recording “Stay Country or Die Tryin’.”
“I’ve got this thing where, I can’t get past some of those old Alabama records, and I’m quite a bit of a copycat sometimes when I’m making my records,” Shelton says on The Bobby Bones Show. ‘Cause I always want to end up putting something on my records that’s like something my heroes did. And for me, that always goes back to Travis Tritt or Alabama or Earl Thomas Conley or Mark Collie, some of these people.
“I come up with these records that I think, ‘Oh, they would have done that,'” he adds. “And ‘Stay Country or Die Tryin” is a little bit of that, especially the intro of the song. I always think, I imagine that I was in Alabama when that song comes on.”
Blake Shelton Explains the Video for “Stay Country or Die Tryin'”
Shelton put almost as much thought into making the video for “Stay Country or Die Tryin'” as he did the song, which shows seven generations working on the same land.
“I hope that fans see the video, and it helps them understand the lifestyle that we’re singing about, and the lyrics of the song,” Shelton explains. “This is seven generations of a family who have made their living off this same plot of corn they plant every year. And there are a lot of those families out there. They’re all over the United States, and they’re all over the world, actually. It’s a source of pride for the person that’s performing the song. I absolutely love the song, and I hope the video conveys that same message.”
Photo Credit: CMA