{"id":2785,"date":"2025-05-06T06:58:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T06:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=2785"},"modified":"2025-05-06T06:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T06:58:15","slug":"blake-shelton-delivered-an-emotional-tribute-to-his-late-father-and-brother-while-serving-as-grand-marshal-at-the-indy-500-a-moment-that-left-fans-teary-eyed-standing-tall-in-front-of-roari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=2785","title":{"rendered":"Blake Shelton delivered an emotional tribute to his late father and brother while serving as Grand Marshal at the Indy 500 \u2014 a moment that left fans teary-eyed. Standing tall in front of roaring crowds and revving engines, Shelton spoke from the heart, dedicating the honor to the two men who shaped his life and music. \u201cThey\u2019re riding with me today,\u201d he said, his voice cracking. Though the day was packed with speed and excitement, it was Blake\u2019s heartfelt tribute that stole the spotlight \u2014 reminding everyone that even at one of the world\u2019s loudest events, love and loss can speak volumes."},"content":{"rendered":"

Blake Shelton\u00a0celebrated Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he\u00a0served as Grand Marshal\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and had the honor of giving the customary pre-race command for the drivers to head to their cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be here, everybody,\u201d Shelton said in his speech, according to grainy, fan-captured footage (the moment was not broadcast on NBC, which was airing the race). \u201cI don\u2019t know about y\u2019all, but I can\u2019t take it anymore. Drivers, to your cars!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Shelton was also a special guest of driver Jimmie Johnson, who collaborated with the country star on a custom helmet design that he wore during the race. The race took place on Sunday (May 29), just before Memorial Day, and so the \u201cHelmet of Heroes\u201d design was themed around honoring military service members, including those personally related to both Johnson and Shelton.<\/p>\n

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According to\u00a0People<\/em>, the helmet design put a spotlight on Johnson\u2019s grandfathers: His maternal grandfather was a safety captain on an aircraft carrier during the Korean War, while his paternal grandfather served in World War II. Shelton\u2019s military connection is just as personal: His dad served in the honor guard in Korea just after the Korean War, and his brother was in the Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I was raised at points thinking, \u2018I guess I\u2019m also going in at some point,’\u201d he told\u00a0People<\/em>. \u201cBut there wasn\u2019t any call for a guitar player in our military, so \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

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Both Shelton\u2019s father and brother have since died. His father, Dick, died in 2012 at the age of 71. His brother, Richie, died in 1990 due to a fatal car crash. The country star was just 14 years old at the time.<\/p>\n

While the mood during Sunday\u2019s race was festive, it had somber undertones for Shelton as he remembered his late father and brother. \u201cWhat a weekend \u2026 wish my dad was able to see that,\u201d the singer wrote on social media, where he also shared some snapshots of himself at the race and posing with Johnson and the special helmet.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThank you [Jimmie Johnson] for letting him and my brother have a spot on your helmet,\u201d he continued. \u201cThinking about them extra today along with all the heroes who have served our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson finished 28th at the Indy 500 due to a wreck he sustained six laps from the finish line, but was still voted Rookie of the Year, according to\u00a0IndyStar. Now that the race is over, his custom helmet is going on to serve another purpose: He\u2019s giving one fan a chance to take it home.<\/p>\n

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Until Sept. 11, 2022, fans can enter for their chance to win the helmet by donating at least $48 to the\u00a0American Legion. The Legion \u2014 a nonprofit organization of war veterans headquartered in Indiana \u2014 will be the benefit of all proceeds from the helmet giveaway. The lucky winner will be drawn following the NTT IndyCar Series season finale race at Laguna Seca Raceway. The helmet will be signed by both Shelton and Johnson.<\/p>\n

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10 Blake Shelton Facts You Probably Didn\u2019t Know<\/h2>\n
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In this list of 10 things you didn\u2019t know about Blake Shelton, you\u2019ll learn what the singer thought of his \u201990s mullet, what his pet peeves are, what songs he sang when he entered pageants as a kid (yes, really!) and more.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 1: Blake Shelton used to have a pet turkey \u2026 named Turkey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Justin Sullivan, Getty Images<\/p>\n

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No. 1: Blake Shelton used to have a pet turkey \u2026 named Turkey<\/h2>\n
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This isn\u2019t a real picture of Shelton\u2019s turkey. In an interview with\u00a0CMT\u00a0in 2003, Shelton spoke of his hopes to bring Turkey to the next awards show he attended. \u201cUp until this point, [Turkey]\u2019s been to Arkansas one time. He has been to Oklahoma, which is where he was born, and now he lives in Tennessee. So, I feel like, without me, he doesn\u2019t get to do things, and I feel a responsibility to show him the world,\u201d the singer said. Sadly, Turkey wasn\u2019t meant to attend awards shows. He\u00a0died of heat stroke\u00a0in June 2003, per\u00a0Great American Country<\/em>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 2: He was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry via Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n

No. 2: He was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry via Twitter<\/h2>\n
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Blake Shelton\u00a0was the first person to ever be\u00a0invited to join the Grand Ole Opry\u00a0via Twitter. The actual tweet read: \u201c@blakeshelton, you\u2019re invited to join the Grand Ole Opry. See you on 10\/23\/2010!\u201d Shelton, being the active Twitter user he is, promptly responded, \u201cHmmm\u2026 Let me think\u2026 OK!!!!!!!!\u201d Trace Adkins was on hand to get a big hug from the Oklahoma native.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 3: His biggest pet peeves: under-dressed people and bare feet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n

No. 3: His biggest pet peeves: under-dressed people and bare feet<\/h2>\n
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Shelton once told\u00a0CMT\u00a0that he hates when sees \u201csomebody standing on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry or some formal place and they\u2019re wearing a T-shirt and baseball cap,\u201d calling it \u201cunacceptable.\u201d He also hates bare feet, pleading with fellow artists to \u201ccover [their] stinkin\u2019, nasty feet\u201d in music videos. According to Shelton, \u201cFlip-flops aren\u2019t even acceptable.\u201d This kind of explains why Shelton is almost always wearing a jacket on\u00a0The Voice<\/em>, doesn\u2019t it?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 4: He believes he has one of the crappiest tattoos in the world<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kevin Winter, Getty Images<\/p>\n

No. 4: He believes he has one of the \u201ccrappiest tattoos in the world\u201d<\/h2>\n
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Shelton drew his own tattoo, and it\u2019s supposed to be deer tracks, since he loves to hunt. However, people often mistake the tracks for something else\u2026 \u201cTo this moment, people still come up to me and say, \u2018Man, ladybugs \u2026 that\u2019s cool. What does that mean to you?’\u201d the singer reveals, hilariously. \u201cI probably have the crappiest tattoo \u2014 not only in country music \u2014 but maybe the world,\u201d he\u00a0says. He later had the barbed wire added to make the tattoo \u201cmore manly.\u201d Good friend\u00a0Craig Morgan\u00a0is particularly quick to make fun of Shelton\u2019s tattoo.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 5: A fan once terrified him by giving him an iguana as a gift<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n

No. 5: A fan once terrified him by giving him an iguana as a gift<\/h2>\n
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\u201cWe were playing a fair, and a few people were handing me stuffed animals and flowers, but one person handed me a paper sack,\u201d Shelton told the\u00a0Boot\u00a0back in 2008. \u201cSo I took all the stuff back to the bus. I put the sack in my lap and opened it, and a live iguana jumped out of the sack and onto my shirt. I screamed like a little girl! I think it took a year off my life \u2014 it scared the crap out of me.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 6: Hell defend that mullet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n

No. 6: He\u2019ll defend that mullet<\/h2>\n
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\u201cNobody else in the world seems to think it was as awesome as I still think it was,\u201d Shelton\u00a0once told\u00a0People<\/em>. The singer used to have a mullet, and he refused to cut it, despite people telling him he looked bad. \u201cBasically, it has gotten to the point where it is just a matter of pride. And I know it looks like crap, but it is just more fun to me to irritate people than cut my hair to satisfy them,\u201d he recalls of his days with long locks. During the pandemic he flirted with bringing it back but common sense got the best of him.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 7: His mom was more excited than he was when he was named one of the sexiest men alive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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People<\/p>\n

No. 7: His mom was more excited than he was when he was named one of the sexiest men alive<\/h2>\n
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\u201cI didn\u2019t really understand what the deal was. So I said some stupid stuff! Then I found out it was a big deal \u2026 so I don\u2019t think they know me very well!\u201d Shelton\u00a0said\u00a0of the acknowledgment from\u00a0People<\/em>\u00a0magazine. \u201cBut my favorite thing about it is that I know my mom, who cuts hair in Ada, Okla., will cut that page out of the magazine and tape it to her mirror and point it out to everybody who comes to the shop.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 8: Shhh! He used to hate reality TV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Getty Images<\/p>\n

No. 8: Shhh! He used to hate reality TV<\/h2>\n
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When\u00a0asked\u00a0what reality show he would like to appear on (if he ever were to), Shelton responded, \u201cI hate reality shows. But if I had to be on one, I\u2019d have to say\u00a0Realtree Road Trips<\/em>\u00a0on the Outdoor Channel.\u201d Well, we\u2019re sure his opinion on reality TV has changed slightly since, considering he is a coach on\u00a0The Voice<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 definitely a far cry from\u00a0Realtree Road Trips<\/em>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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No. 9: He used to be a pageant kid<\/h2>\n
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This is just too good to be true. \u201cMy mom entered me into a pageant [when I was 6 or 7 years old]. I still don\u2019t know why and it\u2019s still the worst experience of my life, being in a pageant,\u201d Shelton told CMT in a since-deleted video interview. \u201cThat has to have been the first one, and I can\u2019t remember because she put me in like two or three in a row there. And I remember singing \u2018Cat Scratch Fever\u2019 by Ted Nugent, and \u2018Old Time Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll\u2019 by Bob Seger \u2014 [they] were probably my two signature songs.\u201d We wonder what his costumes looked like! To Blake\u2019s mom: Please put that on YouTube ASAP!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"No.<\/div>
No. 10: If you build it, shell say YES!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kevin Winter, Getty Images<\/p>\n

No. 10: If you build it, she\u2019ll say \u201cYES!\u201d<\/h2>\n
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We\u2019re not sure that he built it with his own hands, but Shelton built Stefani \u2014 a practicing Catholic \u2014 a chapel on his property in Oklahoma. This is where he proposed to her, as seen in her photo on\u00a0Instagram. This is where they may get married, too, according to some sources, but that remains to be seen.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blake Shelton\u00a0celebrated Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he\u00a0served as Grand Marshal\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and had the honor of giving the customary pre-race command for the drivers… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2785"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2787,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785\/revisions\/2787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}