Before Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani became one of music’s most beloved couples, they inhabited very different musical worlds. Shelton, the country superstar and The Voice coach, was rooted firmly in country music, while Stefani was known as the fiery frontwoman of ska punk-rock band No Doubt. So when they first began dating, neither fully grasped the extent of the other’s musical catalog.
In a charming August 2016 interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Shelton shared how unfamiliar he was with Stefani’s music at the start of their relationship—and how that quickly changed during a simple car ride. “She genuinely, like, outside of a couple of songs, really had to start learning [from the beginning], ’cause she’s just not in that world,” Shelton said of Stefani’s initial unfamiliarity with country music. But when it came to him, Shelton admitted, “I didn’t think I knew much of her music.”
That all changed during a trip to pick her up from the airport in Oklahoma. While flipping through XM radio, Shelton suddenly stopped on a song and thought, “That sounds like Gwen. What in the hell is this? Why don’t I know this?” The song was No Doubt’s hit “It’s My Life.” “Holy hell, I didn’t know Gwen sang that song,” he told Meyers, marveling at how many hits he hadn’t realized were hers. “I’ve always known ‘Hey Baby.’ I didn’t know she sang that freakin’ song. All these songs! It’s like, ‘Wow, that was you? AND we’ve kissed? Wow! That’s amazing!’”
It was a moment of rediscovery and renewed admiration—as if Shelton was falling for Stefani all over again. “I still can’t believe it,” he joked during the interview. “I think she might have some vision problems.”
Stefani’s own take on Shelton’s music was equally honest. When she appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2020, she revealed, “I didn’t know Blake Shelton existed before I went on that show [The Voice].” The two first connected during Season 7 of The Voice in 2014, but it wasn’t until Season 9 in 2015, when both were single, that they began dating. Their relationship blossomed quickly, leading to their engagement in October 2020 and marriage on July 3, 2021, officiated by The Voice host Carson Daly.
Since then, the couple has embraced their musical differences, collaborating on several hit duets including “You Make It Feel Like Christmas,” “Nobody But You,” “Happy Anywhere,” “Go Ahead and Break My Heart,” and “Hangin’ On.” They’ve also written songs inspired by each other, like Stefani’s 2024 single “Pretty.”
Blake Shelton’s candid and adorable reaction to rediscovering Gwen Stefani’s music captures the magic of their unlikely but beautiful romance—two stars from different worlds, united by music and love.
