Blake Shelton has Kelly Clarkson to thank for his new tour concept, so he says.
During a recent interview (Jan. 19) with Access Hollywood, Shelton joked that he stole the idea for his upcoming Back to the Honky Tonk Tour from Clarkson.
“I guess for one thing, we’re really taken it up a notch as far as the production on this tour,” Shelton said.
“I mean without giving too much of it away, I guess I’m not, people buy tickets, they know what they’re getting, but actually the stage is a bar,” he continued, “People buy a bar stool to sit at the stage if you can get those tickets. And that’s the one I would want if I’m going to a concert to be right there in front of the stage, sitting on a bar stool.”
He went on to joke that he stole the bar stage idea from a fellow coach on NBC’s The Voice, Kelly Clarkson.
“It’s a really cool concept. It’s something that I proudly stole from Kelly Clarkson. She’s busy with her show now, so she doesn’t get to tour as much. So I’m stealing as much of her creative ideas as I possibly can. And I’m not looking back, I don’t feel bad about it at all. Take that Kelly!,” he added.
In addition to admitting he stole his tour concept from Clarkson, Shelton shared how fellow country artists Carly Pearce and Jackson Dean will be joining him out on the road.
“We’re bringing out Carly Pearce who could not be more hot in country music right now. Her career is just blowing up. She’s winning the award, she’s having hits on the radio and it’s fun to have known her when she first started and now to bring her back out that she’s kind of in the thick of things and playing at a different level and watching her career grow,” Shelton continued.
“And then we have a guy named Jackson Dean that’s coming out and opening the concerts if he’s not had his first number-one hit. He’s just about to…he’s got a big hit out there. And I haven’t even met the guy in person yet. I’ve been following him a little bit on social media and listening to his music. And I like the kid. He’s kind of got a little bit of an outlaw sound and I love that,” he said.
It seems Clarkson serves as an inspiration to Shelton as he previously joked that he stole an idea for his new show, Barmageddon from Clarkson.
“I like to steal from people,” Shelton told Access Hollywood during an interview about his show, which films at his bar Ole Red in Nashville. “I watch Kelly Clarkson’s talk show every day and I never miss it. She opens every one of her episodes with a song, and I thought, ‘You know, I’m going to do that. I’m going to do what Kelly does, but do it better than Kelly.’ So I decided that I’m going to do a classic, like, bar karaoke theme song every episode of Barmageddon.”
Clarkson recently returned the favor by paying tribute to her fellow Voice coach Shelton with a cover of his hit song, “Honey Bee” on her daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show.
The pair will resume their friendly rivalry on the upcoming season of NBC’s The Voice, the popular reality singing competition show, which will be Shelton’s last.
Fans can also catch Shelton on his upcoming Back to the Honky Tonk Tour starting on Feb. 16 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
