"Would You Go with Me" is the title of a song written by Shawn Camp and John Scott Sherrill, and recorded by American country artist Josh Turner. It was released in April 2006 as the second single from his album, Your Man. It is the first track on Your Man.

Reception[link]

The song went on to become Turner's biggest hit to date. It was his second #1 country single in a row after "Your Man" peaked at the top on the Billboard Country chart in early 2006. "Would You Go with Me" spent two weeks at the top. It also received Turner's highest rankings on the Hot Digital Songs and Pop 100 charts peaking at #43 and #60 respectively. On the Hot 100, its highest position was #43.

Shortly after the song had peaked, Turner's performance of the song on the CMAs lead to a huge sales spike on online retailers sending the song back up the Hot 100, Hot Digital Songs, and Pop 100 charts to new peaks.

Grammy nominations[link]

In late 2006, the nominees for the 2007 Grammy Awards were announced. Turner received a nomination for Male Country Vocal Performance of the Year for "Would You Go with Me." He also earned a nomination for Country Album of the Year for Your Man.

Music video[link]

The music video for "Would You Go with Me" was shot in an abandoned farmhouse in Watertown, Tennessee using green and blue screens. Kristin Barlowe directed the video. [1]

The video follows a boy and a girl who wander into the farmhouse as children. It shows them at different stages in their lives together in different locations all within the house using CGI.

The video starts out as two children run into an empty house. Josh begins singing in the dark house while holding a lamp. The children find a jar of sand in the house and dump it out onto the floor, transforming the room into the beach. It then shows them in various outdoor locations at different ages. At the end of the video, the boy, now an old man, returns to the beach with a chest of his wife's ashes. The little girl, played by Peter Cetera's second daughter Senna, then returns and the old man transforms into the little boy again and the two run off together. Josh is shown throughout the house and outdoor settings singing. Musicians playing the mandolin, dobro, guitar and banjo are also featured in the video.

Chart performance[link]

References[link]

Rob Andrews
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 6, 1990
Preceded by	Jim Florio
Personal details
Born	Robert Ernest Andrews (1957-08-04) August 4, 1957 (age 54) Camden, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Camille Andrews
Children	Jackie and Josie
Residence	Haddon Heights, New Jersey
Alma mater	Bucknell University, Cornell University
Occupation	college professor
Religion	Episcopalian

Robert Ernest "Rob" Andrews (born August 4, 1957) is the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district, serving since 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Camden County and parts of Burlington County and Gloucester County.

Before his election to Congress, Andrews was a member of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1986 to 1990, including two years as freeholder director (1988–1990). A native of Camden and graduate of Bucknell University and Cornell Law School, he was an attorney and an adjunct professor at the Rutgers School of Law–Camden. In the U.S. House of Representatives, he serves on the Committee on Armed Services, Committee on the Budget, and Committee on Education and Labor, where he serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

Andrews was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 U.S. Senate election, being defeated by incumbent U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg. In November 2008, he received more votes than anyone ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey.^[1]

Early life, education, and early career[link]

Andrews was born in Camden, New Jersey, the son of Josephine (née Amies) and Ernest Andrews.^[2] He grew up in Bellmawr, and currently lives in nearby Haddon Heights. He attended Triton Regional High School in Runnemede.^[3] Andrews graduated from Bucknell University in 1979 with a B.A. in political science. He later attended Cornell University Law School, earning his J.D. degree in 1982.

For several years, Andrews was involved in legal education as a member of Cornell Law Review's board of editors. He also was an adjunct professor at Rutgers University-Camden Law School. From 1983 onward, Andrews had a private law practice. In 1987, he was elected as a member of the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

He was one of the only three Democrats to sign Grover Norquist's 1996 Pledge to oppose any and all efforts to increase income tax rate for individuals and business, and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits.

U.S. House of Representatives[link]

Elections[link]

In 1990, after a 15-year incumbent Democrat U.S. Congressman James Florio resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives to take office as Governor of New Jersey, Andrews won the 1990 special election with 55% of the vote.^[4] In the general election of 1990, he won again with 54%.^[5] After that, he never won re-election with less than 63% of the vote.^[6]

Tenure[link]

Andrews is generally considered a moderate by Democratic standards. The New York Times has characterized Congressman Andrews as "fiscally conservative...and socially moderate."^[7] Rep. Andrews has a lifetime rating of 17.24 (and a 2007 rating of 0) from the American Conservative Union and a 2007 rating of 100 from Americans for Democratic Action.^[8][9] He has a liberal rating of 76.2 and a conservative rating of 23.8 from the National Journal.^[10]

Rep. Andrews has served for his entire Congressional career on the House Committee on Education and Labor. He was the Democratic leader and Ranking Member on the Education Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations, and is currently the Chairman of the Education Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions which has responsibility for the health insurance, pension and labor laws of the nation. Rep. Andrews also serves on the House Armed Services Committee, which maintains jurisdiction over funding for the military forces.

Using Amtrak to commute from his Haddon Heights home while Congress is in session so that he can be closer to his family and constituents, Andrews does not maintain a residence in Washington, D.C.. Andrews is an ardent supporter of Amtrak subsidies.

Andrews voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, authorizing the erection of a 700-mile fence across the U.S.-Mexico border.

On October 10, 2002, Rob Andrews was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq (126 Democrats in the House were opposed) and was the only Democratic member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation to co-sponsor the Iraq Resolution.^[11][12] In 2005, he voted in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution to prohibit desecration of the American flag. The proposed amendment was later defeated in the Senate.^[13] In the same year he voted for the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act which makes it more difficult for individuals to declare bankruptcy under Chapter 7 and encourages declaration of bankruptcy under Chapter 13.^[14]

Senators Frank Lautenberg, Bob Menendez,^[15] and Andrews^[16] were the only members of the New Jersey Democratic Congressional Delegation to vote for the Military Commissions Act of 2006. He was also involved in proposing a bill for sanctioning Iran in 2007. The Iran Sanctions Enhancement Act of 2007 targets any company or individual that provides Iran with refined petroleum products or engages in an activity that could contribute to the enhancement of Iran's ability to import refined products after December 31, 2007.^[17]

Andrews is a signer of Americans for Tax Reform’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.^[18]

2008 presidential election

Andrews is a superdelegate within the Democratic Party and prior to the New Jersey primary he endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.^[19] Following the results from the Indiana and North Carolina primaries Andrews stated that he believed Senator Barack Obama would win the nomination and that the party should unite behind him. However he did not switch his vote as a superdelegate from Clinton to Obama stating that "such a move might 'retard' the process of unifying the party".^[20]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
  • Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships[link]

• Congressional Arts Caucus

Campaigns for higher office[link]

1997 gubernatorial election[link]

In 1997, Andrews ran for Governor of New Jersey. In the Democratic primary, Andrews was defeated 40%-37%, a margin of just 9,993 votes, by State Senator Jim McGreevey.^[21][22]

Speculation between 1998 and 2007[link]

Andrews was reportedly considering a primary challenge in 2005, before McGreevey's resignation. While Andrews had been frequently mentioned as a possible replacement for Jon Corzine's United States Senate seat after Corzine's November 2005 gubernatorial victory, Bob Menendez was eventually chosen by Corzine to fill the vacancy. Andrews had informally announced his plan to run in the 2006 Democratic primary against Menendez, but in January 2006 announced that he would run for a ninth full term in the House and seek the Senate seat in 2008 if U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg retired.

2008 U.S. Senate election[link]

He decided to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg in the 2008 Democratic primary in New Jersey. Andrews also announced that he would not seek re-election to his U.S. House district in 2008.^[23] His wife, Camille Andrews stood as a candidate for his U.S. House seat instead, although she said she might withdraw in favor of another candidate chosen by the party.^[24]

Andrews was beaten by Lautenberg in the Senate primary, but Camille Andrews won the Democratic primary for his seat in the House. After losing to Lautenberg, Rob Andrews decided to run for re-election to his House seat; Camille withdrew her candidacy on September 3, and Rob Andrews announced that on September 4 that he would take her place as the Democratic candidate. Despite strong public opinion to the contrary, he maintained that his wife had not been merely a placeholder candidate and said that he had only decided to run for re-election a week before he announced it; according to Andrews, his change of heart was a result of personal reflection: "I just looked deep into what I believe in and decided that this is what I had to do."^[25]

Personal life[link]

Andrews is married to Camille Spinello Andrews, an Associate Dean of Enrollment and Projects at Rutgers School of Law - Camden. They have two daughters, Jackie and Josie.^[26]

Electoral history[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Congressman Rob Andrews official U.S. House site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Shane Dawson
Dawson at the Streamy Awards in 2010
Born	Shane Lee Yaw (1988-07-19) July 19, 1988 (age 23) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation	YouTube video maker (actor, comedian)
Years active	2008–present
Known for	Sketch comedy, vlogging
Website
www.shanedawsontv.com

Shane Dawson (born Shane Yaw; July 19, 1988)^[1][2][3] is an American YouTube actor, comedian, and musician. Dawson is known for making comedy videos featuring many recurring characters (such as Shananay, Ned the Nerd, S. Deezy, Mom, and Aunt Hilda), impersonations (such as Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus and Sarah Palin), and spoofs of popular music videos and television shows. As of September 2011 his main YouTube channel is the fifth most subscribed channel of all time, behind Ray William Johnson, Nigahiga, Smosh, and Machinima.com.^[4][5][6] Dawson has since expanded on YouTube by adding his second channel (twelfth most subscribed)^[4] where he posts video blogs and the series "Ask Shane", which moved to his main channel February 26, 2011.^[7]

Dawson's career began when he and several friends would turn in videos instead of homework in high school. Dawson's first videos on YouTube were old assignments that he turned in during high school.^[8][9]

In November 2009, Dawson was featured on Attack of the Show!^[10] In 2010, Forbes magazine named him their 25th most famous web celebrity.^[3]

Dawson's debut mainstream single (third overall), SUPERLUV! was released on March 31, 2012.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Dawson grew up in Long Beach, California, where he attended Lakewood High School.^[12] Dawson has revealed in a video, that as a teenager he was over-weight and would get bullied a lot, as well as being beaten by his alcoholic father, who then abandoned the family. He has since lost 150 pounds. Shane has three dogs, Miley, Charlie, and Chocolate as well as two cats, Muffins and Snoop. They often appear in his videos. He used to work in Jenny Craig, Inc. along with his mother and brother, but was fired after he uploaded a video of himself pole dancing in the building he worked in. His mother, brother and about 6 other coworkers who appeared in the video also got fired after the company saw the video.^[13] In a video he said he is a virgin, and plans to stay one until he is married as he believes strongly in sex after marriage.^[14] Shane Dawson revealed in a video that he and an unknown female broke up from their relationship, which lasted about a year.^[15] He decided to not release the female's identity in order to preserve her from getting negative criticism. In March 2012, Dawson stated that he was in a relationship with fellow YouTuber, Lisa Schwartz.^[16]

Dawson currently resides in Sherman Oaks, California.^[17]

YouTube channels[link]

Dawson posts new videos on his main channel, ShaneDawsonTV, every Saturday and video blogs on his second channel, ShaneDawsonTV2, throughout the week.^[18] Every Monday, posted on his second channel, he also has an "Ask Shane" webseries where he answers questions from his viewers. This series is similar to a previous web series, "Viewer Orgy Party", which currently only airs approximately once a month. His third YouTube channel, Shane, is where he posts unedited videos directly from his iPhone. He began using this channel in May, 2010. Starting in 2012 Shane had announced he would be making daily blogs (video blog) on his iPhone channel. He has also begun a new series called "Shane and Friends" on his main channel which he does once every month. This series includes him giving advice and talking as basically all his characters. Shane often collaborates with other YouTubers or appears in their videos, such as BrittaniLouiseTaylor, TheFineBros, JoeNationTV, and ijustine.

In August 2010, he announced that he was going to write a television pilot and post it on his main channel, featuring himself and his characters from previous videos, about him in high school.

Television projects[link]

On August 11, 2010, Dawson announced that he was in the making of a 30-minute pilot which he will call SD High. Previously, the funding he needed for the pilot was provided by digital media group Take180 after he helped them out with acting in their own videos.^[19] The pilot is based on two previous videos which Dawson uploaded to his main channel in Summer 2010. In his previous videos, the story centers around a teenage boy in school, and his interactions with the other characters. The pilot was due to be released towards the end of September 2010 on his main YouTube Channel, however Dawson later announced that he had been contacted by a television studio to produce the pilot for their TV channel(s).^[20] According to Dawson, there is some uncertainty involving the pilot, however it may be a TV show in the future.^[21] On March 26, 2011, Dawson uploaded a video to YouTube explaining to his audience that he's working with Happy Madison Productions, Sony Pictures, and some other YouTubers including TheFineBros and BrittaniLouiseTaylor to create the television show.^[22] The video contains an explanation from Dawson about what he's working on, and a 'mock trailer', made up of clips from previous episodes on his YouTube channel, for the show.

In January 2012, Dawson stated in a video that he was now working on a new television show, which would be semi-based on his life working at a Weight Loss center. He stated that he would be pitching the show soon, and that he was "really excited" for it, and stated the show was "kind of like Arrested Development, but - not."^[23] Recently, Shane, on May 16, 2012, announced in his daily vlog that he was working on a professional horror-comedy movie. "I want to write something like a teen comedy but like scary and fun," said Dawson in the vlog, Day 96.

Music projects[link]

In 2012, Dawson revealed in his Vlogs that he was working on a music project. In March 2012, Dawson revealed that his debut mainstream single, SUPERLUV! would be released that month. The song was released on March 31, 2012 on iTunes, with an accompanying music video debuting on his YouTube channel on the same day. The song managed to chart at 87 in Ireland, 16 on the UK Indie Chart and reached the 28th spot on the US iTunes Pop Chart.

On May 8, 2012, Dawson revealed in a video that he has begun working on his next original song, which is tentatively titled The Vacation Song. He previewed about 10 seconds of the "rough edit" of the song, and stated that he was going to change the mood of the song, saying, "Right now, it's a little too happy, because it's a break up song. I want it to be more like Kelly Clarkson's Since You've Been Gone." He stated that the song would "hopefully" be released by the beginning of June 2012.^[24]

Major productions[link]

• Hot Teens Gone Wild on Degrassi! Part 1 - November 21, 2009 (11-minute long special)
• Hot Teens Go Wild on Degrassi! Part 2 - March 6, 2010 (12-minute long special)
• SD High: School Dance Disaster - July 3, 2010 (SD High Episode 1) (8-minute long special)
• SD High: High School Drama - July 31, 2010 (SD High Episode 2) (9-minute long special)
• Haunted House Party - October 30, 2010 (Interactive Halloween special)
• Shane Dawson's Love Story - December 18, 2010 (10-minute long Christmas special)
• SD High: Teens Gone Wild - March 26, 2011 (SD High Episode 3) (7-minute long special)
• Final Destination: The Game - July 2, 2011 (Interactive special based on the Final Destination film series )
• Friends 4Ever - October 29, 2011 (22-minute long Halloween short film)
• How Shananay Stole Christmas - December 17, 2011 (15-minute long Christmas special)

Dawson will play a character named Binder in the upcoming feature-length horror film, Smiley (directed by YouTuber Michael Gallagher and produced by Level 10 Films) which has finished filming and is currently in post-production. It will be released in theaters and DVD in 2012.^[25]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

Note: These are only songs Shane has released officially to iTunes as singles. He has also released a set of ringtones on iTunes, also available to download as tracks, and he releases all his parodies free on a media sharing website.

Awards and nominations[link]

Dawson has been nominated for various awards.^[26] On August 9, 2010, Dawson won the award for Choice Web Star at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards. Although the category was not featured at the awards show, Dawson stated in a video that he posted to YouTube the next day that "It was just great to be nominated and at the show itself". The nominees for that category included fellow YouTubers Justine Ezarik, Charles Trippy, Lucas Cruikshank, best known for his Fred character, and singer Greyson Chance. Dawson was nominated for Choice Web Star in the 2011 Teen Choice Awards, but lost to Rebecca Black.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shane Dawson at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Website
• ShaneDawsonTV, Shane Dawson's YouTube channel

Blake Shelton
Shelton in April 2010
Background information
Birth name	Blake Tollison Shelton
Born	(1976-06-18) June 18, 1976 (age 36)[1] Ada, Oklahoma, United States
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Giant, Warner Bros. Nashville, Reprise Nashville
Associated acts	Bobby Braddock, Miranda Lambert, Trace Adkins, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green
Website	blakeshelton.com

Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This song was the first single from his gold-certified debut album, which also produced two more Top 20 hits. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.

His second and third albums, 2003's The Dreamer (his first for Warner Bros. proper) and 2004's Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, were each certified gold as well. Shelton's fourth album, Pure BS, was issued in 2007, and re-issued in 2008 with a cover of Michael Bublé's pop hit "Home" as one of the bonus tracks. This cover was also that album's third single. A fifth album, Startin' Fires, was released in November 2008. It was followed by the extended plays Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight in 2010, and the album Red River Blue in 2011. He is currently a vocal coach on the NBC reality talent show The Voice with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Cee Lo Green.

Overall, Shelton has charted 17 singles on the country charts, including eleven Number One hits: "Austin" (2001), "The Baby" (2003), "Some Beach" (2004–2005), "Home" (2008), "She Wouldn't Be Gone" (2009), "Hillbilly Bone" (2010), a duet with Trace Adkins, "All About Tonight" (2010), "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking" (2011)", "Honey Bee" (2011), "God Gave Me You" (2011), and "Drink on It" (2011-2012). Additionally, three more of his singles have reached Top Ten: a cover version of Conway Twitty's "Goodbye Time", "Nobody but Me", and "I'll Just Hold On".

He also covered "Footloose" for the movie remake in 2011.

Early life[link]

Shelton was born in Ada, Oklahoma, to Dick, a used car dealer, and Dorothy, a beauty salon owner. He began singing at an early age and by age 12, he learned to play guitar. By age sixteen, Shelton had received a Denbo Diamond Award in his home state.^[1] On November 13, 1990, his older brother Richie, who was 24 at the time, died in a car accident. He has an older sister, Endy. At age 17, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in pursuit of a singing career.

Musical career[link]

Shelton performing at the Crawford City Fair in August 2005

[edit] 1998–2002: Blake Shelton

After several years in Nashville, he signed to Giant Records in 1998. In 2001, he was slated to release a song entitled "I Wanna Talk About Me" as a single. Staff at the label considered the song unsuitable for a lead-off single, however, and the song was eventually recorded by Toby Keith, whose version was a Number One hit.^[2]

Instead, Giant released "Austin" as Shelton's debut single. Shortly after its release, however, Giant Records was dissolved, and Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records, the parent company. "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts. His self-titled debut album also produced the No.18 "All Over Me" (which Shelton co-wrote with fellow country artist Earl Thomas Conley) and the No.14 "Ol' Red", which was a cover version of a George Jones song. Although Shelton's rendition of "Ol' Red" was not a major radio hit, he considers it his signature song, and it has become popular in concert.^[3] Blake Shelton is certified gold by the RIAA.^[1]

[edit] 2002–2003: The Dreamer

Shelton's second album, The Dreamer, was first released on February 4, 2003 on Warner Bros. Records. Its lead-off single, "The Baby", reached Number One on the country charts, holding that position for three weeks. Although the second and third singles ("Heavy Liftin'" and "Playboys of the Southwestern World", respectively) only reached No.32 and #24, The Dreamer earned gold certification as well. He, along with Andy Griggs and Montgomery Gentry, sang guest vocals on Tracy Byrd's mid-2003 single "The Truth About Men".

[edit] 2004–2006: Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill

Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill was the title of Shelton's third studio album, released in 2004.^[1] Its lead-off single, the Harley Allen co-write "When Somebody Knows You That Well", peaked at No.37 on the country charts, while the follow-up "Some Beach" became his third No.1 hit, holding that position for four weeks. It was followed by a cover of Conway Twitty's 1988 single "Goodbye Time".^[4] Both this cover and its followup, "Nobody but Me", reached Top Ten for Shelton as well. As with his first two albums, Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill was certified gold. Accompanying the album's release was a video collection entitled Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill: A Video Collection.^[1]

On December 18, 2005, several of Shelton's songs, including "Nobody but Me", appeared on the TV movie The Christmas Blessing, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Rebecca Gayheart, Angus T. Jones, and Rob Lowe. Shelton had a small role at the end of the movie, playing himself at a benefit concert, singing "Nobody but Me".

[edit] 2006–2008: Pure BS

Shelton issued his fourth studio album, Pure BS, in early 2007.^[1] Unlike with his first three albums, which were produced entirely by Bobby Braddock, Shelton worked with Braddock, Brent Rowan, and Paul Worley as producers for this album. Its first two singles—"Don't Make Me" and "The More I Drink"—were both Top 20 hits on the country charts, respectively reaching No.12 and #19. Also in late 2007, Shelton made appearances on television shows: first as a judge on the talent competition Nashville Star, and later on Clash of the Choirs.

Pure BS was re-released in 2008 with three bonus tracks, including a cover of Michael Bublé's hit single "Home". This cover, released in early 2008 as the album's third single, became his fourth No.1 hit in July.^[5]

[edit] 2008–2009: Startin' Fires

"Home" was followed in August 2008 by the single "She Wouldn't Be Gone", his 14th chart entry and his fifth No. 1 hit. It was the first time in his career that he had two consecutive Number Ones. "She Wouldn't Be Gone" is the lead-off to Shelton's fifth studio album, Startin' Fires, which has also produced the single "I'll Just Hold On." This album also includes "Bare Skin Rug," a duet with Lambert.^[6] It was produced by Scott Hendricks, except for one track which was produced by Brent Rowan, and another ("I Don't Care", which carried over from Pure BS) was produced by Braddock.^[7]

[edit] 2009–2011: Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight

After "I'll Just Hold On" fell off the chart in October 2009, Blake Shelton released a duet with Trace Adkins titled "Hillbilly Bone." It was the lead-off single on Shelton's EP, Hillbilly Bone, released on March 2, 2010 through Reprise Records Nashville. After "Hillbilly Bone" reached No.1 in February, came the August release of "All About Tonight", the lead-off single to his EP of the same name. In September, he released the second single from All About Tonight, "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking", his 18th single release. He released his first greatest hits album, Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton in November 2010.

Shelton was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry during the September 28, 2010 "Country Comes Home" concert celebrating reopening of the Grand Ole Opry House after the Cumberland River flooded the Opry House in May 2010. The formal invitation was extended on his Twitter account and was announced by Opry star Trace Adkins.^[8] He was formally inducted by Adkins at the Saturday, October 23, 2010 Opry performance.

Shelton recorded the title track for the "Footloose" remake film released on October 14th, 2011.

Blake Shelton appeared on the 44th Annual Country Music Awards on November 10, 2010 where he performed "All About Tonight" and won Male Vocalist of the Year.^[9]

Shelton will serve as a judge/coach to singers on the 2011 NBC reality television series The Voice.^[10]

[edit] 2011–present: Red River Blue

Blake Shelton released the album Red River Blue on July 12, 2011, led by the single, "Honey Bee". The song received 138,000 downloads in its first week and was certified gold in its seventh week, setting a new record for the fastest gold certification by a male country singer.^[11] On June 13, 2011, in its tenth chart week, "Honey Bee" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming his ninth #1 and his fastest-climbing. The album was expected to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 with around 110,000 copies sold.^[12] "God Gave Me You", a cover of a Dave Barnes song, was the album's second single; it also reached #1. "Drink On It", the fifth song on the album, hit #1 in April 2012, giving him his 11th #1 song. On April 30, 2012, Blake performed "Over" on the Semi-finals of the second season of The Voice. "Over" later debuted at #53 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs on 19 May, 2012.^[13]

Blake Shelton is a coach on the NBC show The Voice. His finalist Dia Frampton came in second. He returned for a second season of the show with Jermaine Paul as the champion ^[14]. Frampton also recorded a track with Shelton titled "I Will" on her album Red, released December 6, 2011.

Blake Shelton took the stage with Miranda Lambert at Super Bowl XLVI in February 2012 to open the event by singing a duet version of “America the Beautiful”. It marked their first TV performance since their headlining nuptials in May 2011.

Television[link]

[edit] 2011–present: The Voice

In 2011, Shelton became a coach on NBC's new show, The Voice, along with Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine.

In season 1, Shelton became the runner-up coach as his final team member, Dia Frampton, won second place of the season.

In season 2, Shelton became the winning coach as his final team member, Jermaine Paul, was declared winner of the season.

Season 3 of The Voice will air in the fall of 2012. All four judges have signed on to return. ^[15]

Personal life[link]

Shelton married longtime girlfriend Kaynette Gern on November 17, 2003. They divorced in 2006.

Shelton is now married to fellow country singer Miranda Lambert, whom he met at the CMT's 100 Greatest Duets Concert.^[16] Lambert also sang background vocals on his cover of Michael Bublé's song, "Home", which became a Number 1 single on the Hot Country Songs chart. On May 9, 2010, after dating for four years,^[17] Shelton proposed to Miranda, after seeking (and receiving) her father's blessing.^[17][18]

Shelton and Lambert were married on May 14, 2011 at Don Strange Ranch in Boerne, Texas.^[17] 550 people were in attendance, including many celebrities, such as Reba McEntire, Cee Lo Green, Martina McBride, Kelly Clarkson, Dierks Bentley, Charles Kelley, and the Bellamy Brothers. After the wedding, Shelton expressed his joy stating, "I wanted to be married to Miranda the day I proposed. Finally, it's official!"^[19] Blake and Miranda reside in the small town of Tishomingo, OK, located in the Texoma area.

On January 17, 2012, Shelton's father, Dick, 71, died in Oklahoma, following a period of declining health.^[20][21]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Blake Shelton (2001)
• The Dreamer (2003)
• Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill (2004)
• Pure BS (2007)
• Startin' Fires (2008)
• Red River Blue (2011)

Extended plays

• Blake Shelton: Collector's Edition (2008)
• Hillbilly Bone (2010)
• All About Tonight (2010)

Compilation albums

• Blake Shelton – The Essentials (2009)
• Loaded: The Best of Blake Shelton (2010)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Blake Shelton at the Internet Movie Database