American country singer Blake Shelton is a country music sensation. Fans have wondered whether he pens his own tunes.
Although Blake Shelton has co-written a number of his own songs, he does not write most of his own music. He prefers to let his songwriters and producers pen his tracks, and views his role to be that of a singer rather than a writer.
Blake Shelton is a talented singer, but his songwriting capabilities have also contributed to some of his success. Read more below.
Shelton’s Country Career
Shelton’s debut single was the song Austin, written by David Kent and Kirsti Manna.
The song quickly rose to number 1 on the U.S Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and stayed atop the chart for over a month. It also reached number 18 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100.
It was the lead single of his debut eponymous album Blake Shelton, produced by renowned songwriter Bobby Braddock.
The album has 10 tracks, 4 of which were co-penned by Shelton. The other songs were written by various producers, singers, and songwriters.
Shelton was married to fellow country music icon Miranda Lambert from 2011 till their divorce in 2015. Fans claim that they have since written many songs about each other.
Shelton’s song She’s Got A Way With Words was rumored to be about his ex-wife, but the singer did not write it.
The song was written by Wyatt Earp, Andy Albert, and Marc Beeson.
Bet You Still Think About Me from the same album (If I’m Honest) was also rumored to be based on her, but was written by Park Chisolm and Mark Irwin.
Shelton may have influenced the lyrics, however.
He told E! News, “Whether you go through a divorce or a breakup or whatever […] you kind of go into the sad part of it where it’s just like, ‘Gosh, how come that didn’t work out?’ And that’s what this song is about. Even though stuff didn’t work out, I bet you miss me a little bit. It’s a sad song.”
If I’m Honest has 15 tracks, 3 of which were co-written by Shelton.
His contribution level is similar in his later albums, many of which have been classified gold and platinum.
Music Shelton Has Written
This is not to say that Shelton has not penned masterpieces.
He co-penned the second single, All Over Me, from his eponymous album, along with Earl Thomas Conley and Michael Pyle.
It peaked at number 18 on the U.S Billboard Hot Country Songs, and at number 10 on the U.S Billboard Bubbling Top 100 Singles.
When he was still with his ex-wife Miranda Lambert, Shelton co-wrote the country ballad Over You with her, which was released on Lambert’s Four The Record album.
Over You draws from Shelton’s experience of losing his older brother to a car accident when he was just a teenager.
The song hit number 1 on the U.S and Canada’s Billboard Country charts.
He co-wrote Go Ahead And Break My Heart with fellow singer Gwen Stefani, and the two went on to date.
Shelton has written various other songs throughout his career.
On Penning His Own Music
Shelton never claimed to write most of his songs.
In an interview, he spoke about how he considers himself more of a singer than a songwriter.
He said, “I never really considered myself a great songwriter, and the reason is because there’s so many incredible songwriters in Nashville that I can’t even begin to compare my songs to the work that they put out […].”
Shelton credited his songwriters for his success, stating, “I wouldn’t be sitting here with a career right now if it wasn’t for the songwriters in Nashville and the publishers who took a chance on me.”
The successful singer has charted over 26 number one singles, been nominated for over 8 Grammys, and is a judge on the singing television show The Voice.