American singer/songwriter, Gwen Stefani and her husband, country superstar Blake Shelton recently came together to host Apple Music’s From Apple Music With Love. During the 1-hour conversation, the No Doubt singer revealed that her husband is actually one of her musical heroes.
Throughout the beloved couple’s appearance on the Apple Music special, Stefani and Shelton shared some of their family’s Christmas traditions, memories, talked music and more.
Also, during the discussion, Stefani finally confirmed previous rumors, which speculated that her song, “Rare,” featured on her 2017 album, was written about her partner, Shelton, during the early stage of their relationship.
“I wrote this song on my This Is What The Truth Feels Like album, which was the album I wrote when I was actually falling in love with you, Blake Shelton,” Stefani explained. “So I have half the album is heartbroken, I want to die songs. And then halfway through writing that album, I met my best friend for life, Blake Shelton. And then I started writing songs about you, and you are my muse. And there’s a song on the album that I don’t feel like was a single, that should’ve been a single, that I want people to hear. So it’s easy for me to pick this next song. This next song is a song about Blake Shelton, and it’s called ‘Rare.’”
Stefani and Shelton also reminisced on some joyful holiday memories, including their unique traditions and Shelton recording his cover of Stefani’s original holiday track, ‘Christmas Eve.”
“You ended up covering that song, which was one of the greatest things ever,” Stefani shared. “I remember we went to Capitol Records. Scott Hendricks, my hero, your producer, produced a song I wrote on your ranch, a Christmas song, that Busbee helped me write. It was just this full circle moment to have. You are one of my heroes, one of my musical heroes.”
The idea for this project came to Stefani during a run on Shelton’s ranch. After some prayer and a bit of exercise, the light bulb went off in her head.
“All of a sudden, this Christmas song called ‘Christmas Eve’ came to my brain, it was like a miracle. And I started booking back to the lodge because I was like, “Oh my gosh, I got to get my phone. Did I just write this song? How did this happen?” And it was like a pure Christmas miracle. And I was like, singing it to my mom, my mom and dad were there, and I was like, “Does this sound like a church song? Did I copy this?”
As a songwriter, having a well-known, talented artist cover your original song is a major accomplishment, but having someone you love do the same brings on a whole new level of pride.
“To have you cover a song I wrote, to me, that’s one of my favorite life stories that ever happened to me as a songwriter,” she continued.
Shelton then admitted to receiving help from his friend, Shane Tarleton in organizing the kids from the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, whose vocals were included in his cover of the song.
“Trying to figure out how to make mine different from yours… I just loved the song and I loved the fact that you wrote it at the ranch,” Shelton added. “The only difference in the two is yours is better.”
On the same holiday album, Stefani and Shelton recorded a duet of their original single, “You Make It Feel Like Christmas.”
After six years together, country superstar, Shelton, 45, and No Doubt singer, Stefani, 51, exchanged vows during an intimate ceremony in front of their closest family and friends on July 3. The elegant Carson Daly-officiated ceremony took place inside a chapel on Shelton’s ranch, built exclusively for the superstar couple to say their “I Do’s.”
Shelton and Stefani got engaged back in late October 2020 in Shelton’s hometown of Oklahoma. They first met as coaches on NBC’s The Voice in 2014, following both of their public breakups. The superstar couple began dating in November 2015, just a year after working together as coaches on The Voice.
The couple has gone on to release four duets together throughout their relationship thus far, including “Nobody But You,” “Happy Anywhere” and more.
