The country music star Blake Shelton recently spoke out to recall the tough love pep talk that his fellow singer Billy Ray Cyrus gave him over twenty years ago, and he hasn’t forgotten it to this day.
TONIGHT! Don't miss Blake on @JimmyKimmelLive! Tune-in at 11:35/10:35c on @ABCNetwork. -Team BS pic.twitter.com/k0mRGCkT6C
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) November 8, 2023
Shelton Gets Advice From Cyrus
While being interviewed by the late night host Jimmy Kimmel earlier this month, Shelton remembered how Cyrus gave him a tough love pep talk before he made his first television appearance way back in 2001. Shelton, now 47, admitted that he was “scared to death” to take the stage at the CMAs, where he was tasked with doing a commercial bumper by teasing who was coming up next before singing about 20 seconds of his song “Austin.”
As Shelton stood in the wings waiting to go on, he was approached by Cyrus, who immediately introduced himself and asked how Shelton was doing.
“And I go, ’Man, I’m scared to death. I’m scared to death right now to walk out there,'” Shelton recalled. “And he goes, ‘What do you mean?’ And I go, ‘I’ve just never been on TV, and I’ve got to sing.'”
Cyrus, however, was not having any of it.
Honestly, i still don't understand how Blake Shelton got sexiest man alive over Billy Ray Cyrus . Even with the mullet. pic.twitter.com/qpNSVLSQZe
— ✨BE FUCKING FR✨ (@killakui) April 7, 2019
Related: Gwen Stefani Loving ‘Beautiful Life’ In Oklahoma With Blake Shelton – ‘God Is All Right There’
‘You Need To Toughen Up’
“Even if you do great, this is the music industry,” Cyrus, now 62, allegedly told Shelton. “Most of those people are gonna make fun of you and roll their eyes anyway, man. This is the music industry. You need to toughen up a little bit. Man, people make fun of you.”
“I remember that was his pep talk to me,” Shelton recalled. “He probably doesn’t remember that, but I’m telling you, as a young 23-year-old kid or whatever I was, I was like, ‘Oh my god, you’re right.'”
Kimmel responded by joking that Cyrus may have been on to something because if you have “‘Achy and Breaky’ in the title of your song. Yes, people are going to make fun of you.”
“Billy had had a rough stretch at that point,” Shelton jokingly agreed.
Check out this full interview in the video below.
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Related: Billy Ray Cyrus Sent A Message To Melania Trump That Miley And Her Liberal Friends Won’t Like
Shelton Overcomes Fears Of Being On TV
It’s somewhat ironic that Shelton was initially terrified of going on television, given the fact that he would later spend 23 seasons serving as a hugely successful coach on the hit NBC television show “The Voice” from 2011 until he left the show in May of this year. Shelton even coached alongside Cyrus’ daughter Miley when she signed on as a coach during seasons 11 and 13 of the show.
“It’s bittersweet,” Shelton wrote on Instagram as he reflected on his exit from “The Voice.” “When we signed up for season 1, I don’t think any of us knew what this was going to be…”
“These past 12 years I have made lifelong friends and memories,” he continued. “I’ve had the great opportunity to coach some really talented artists, 9 who have taken home #TeamBlake wins (let’s make that 10 tonight?), and watch these artists grow so much from the show.”
“Thank you to everyone… the crew, the coaches, the contestants, the fans, and my wife who have made these some really great years,” Shelton concluded. “Love y’all!!!!!!”
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We’re so glad to see that Shelton overcome his fears of being on television, and that he’s never forgotten the advice that Cyrus gave him all those years ago. In the end, we could all learn a lot from Cyrus’ advice about toughening up a bit!
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