Blake Shelton returned to The Voice, but not as a coach. The Oklahoma native returned for the Season 27 finale, to sing his recent No. 1 hit, “Texas.”

Shelton performed as part of an all-star finale. Other performers of the evening included Foreigner, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys and more.

Adam David, on Michael Bublé’s team, was crowned the winner. Jaelen Johnston, on Kelsea Ballerini’s team, was the runner-up, and Renzo, on John Legend’s team, came in third place.

“Texas” is Shelton’s 30th No. 1 single. The song is the first song Shelton released from his For Recreational Use Only album, out now.

“It’s been a few years since I’ve had a solo No. 1 single, and I’m super fired up about this one,” Shelton says. “I had no idea if ‘Texas’ would be a number one song, but the first time I heard it, I knew that it was something different and it sounded like nothing else I’d ever done before.”

For Recreational Use Only is Shelton’s first record since Body Language came out in 2021. The Grand Ole Opry member took a break in part because of his grueling schedule, thanks to being a coach on The Voice for 23 seasons.

“For a few years there, I was having a pretty hot streak in country music, and I happened to also be on the No. 1 television show at the same time,” Shelton reflects to American Songwriter. “Trying to bounce back and be sure you don’t lose momentum in this lane, but you have to do this job. You signed up to do it. And eventually, it did do a number on me.”

It was Post Malone asking Shelton to join him on “Pour Me A Drink,” for his F-1 Trillion album, that made Shelton realize he wanted to make music again.

“You can’t step back and then expect to step back in, and anybody would still be waiting on you,” Shelton acknowledges. “I remember just being blown away that Post Malone even thought of me. ‘[Like] really? Do you think he meant to call me?’”

“I started thinking, ‘Man, what am I doing? Nobody gets to do this,’”he adds. “I need to make a record. That was fun. What I realized is that I’d had the break that I needed.”

Fans have been clamoring for Shelton to return as a coach on The Voice for another year. Although Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg, Michael Bublé and Niall Horan have already been confirmed as coaches for the next season of The Voice, the 48-year-old hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of returning to coach another season, albeit not while he is on The Road,  which premieres on CBS this fall.

“The people that work at The Voice, the producers and people behind the scenes are like family to me,” Shelton says on Country Countdown USA. “And I think the door would still be open. I mean, maybe not while I’m making another competition show on a different network. But I do think it still is open, and I look forward to going back and doing things here and there. The show changed my life.”

Find “Texas” and all of Shelton’s music and upcoming shows at BlakeShelton.com.