In 2023, Blake Shelton left The Voice after 23 seasons with the show. He was feeling burnt out by years of balancing his music career with the job as a coach on the NBC series. For a while, all he wanted to do was take a break. Before long, though, years had passed without him releasing an album. Shelton admitted this had been a mistake.

Blake Shelton felt burnt out from working on ‘The Voice’ and his music career

Shelton was the longest-running host on The Voice. He joined in its first season and remained a fixture on the show until his exit in 2023. Shelton said that while he felt grateful for the success, he began to feel like he’d “just been on this hamster wheel.” He needed a break.

“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,” he told 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.”

For the sake of his sanity, he stepped away from the show.

Blake Shelton said he made a dumb move with his music career

After Shelton left the show, he allowed himself to relax. He admits this also became an issue for him. He spent years without releasing an album, which he called “the dumbest move you can make.”

“You can’t step back and then expect to step back in, and anybody would still be waiting on you,” he said.

Ultimately, though, someone was still thinking about him. Post Malone approached him about collaborating on the song “Pour Me a Drink.” Shelton couldn’t refuse the offer.

“I remember just being blown away that Post Malone even thought of me— ‘Really? Do you think he meant to call me?’”

The song hit No. 1, and working on new music made him realize that he needed to end his hiatus. 

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

Shelton released a new album in 2025

After the success of “Pour Me a Drink,” Shelton realized that he needed to capitalize on the moment. He was ready to put himself out there again.

“With this amount of time between new music, it’s almost like a reintroduction,” Shelton said.

He brought several songs to his record label, including “Texas.” The president of the label loved it and wanted to release it straight away.

“It was so refreshing for me to hear that kind of excitement again about something that I had done,” Shelton says. “I was like, ‘This is where I want to be.’”

Shelton released his 13th studio album, For Recreational Use Only, on May 9, 2025.