Kane Brown joined forces with Blake Shelton to deliver the much-anticipated live debut of their first-ever collaboration during The Voice finale on Tuesday evening (Dec. 13).
The pair of country superstars performed “Different Man,” Brown and Shelton’s first-ever duet. Brown launched the performance singing the opening verse of the tune surrounded by fire and machinery before Shelton joined him for his verse and the pair of hitmakers blended their vocals together on the tune’s anthemic chorus.
“What if I was made for the stage / What if I was made for the lights / What if I was chosen to write the stories / Wasn’t built to work the line / Oh, what if I was different / Would I wanna be different?” Brown and Shelton sang on the chorus.
Co-written by Brown alongside Josh Hoge and Christian Davis, “Different Man” finds the country superstars singing how they are “made for the stage” and not for the typical 9-to-5 job.
The tune serves as the title track to Brown’s 17-track, third studio album, Different Man. The project features his latest chart-topping singles “One Mississippi” and “Like I Love Country Music,” as well as “Thank God,” a duet with his wife, Katelyn. The album also includes previously released tracks “Grand,” “One Mississippi,” “Whiskey Sour,” and “Leave You Alone.”
Different Man follows Brown’s second studio album, 2018’s Experiment. In August of 2020, Brown released his ACM-nominated EP, Mixtape Vol. 1, which included several hit singles such as “Cool Again,” “Worldwide Beautiful” “Worship You” and his Top 40 radio single, “Be Like That” featuring Khalid and Swae Lee.
Brown recently opened up to Billboard about the duet and revealed where he was when he decided to ask Shelton to join him on the track.
“I was driving to the gym — that’s where I really have time to think and listen,” Kane explained. “I wanted one more feature on the album, and Blake was the first person I thought of,” he continued. “The song just reminded me of the ‘God’s Country’ kind of Blake Shelton, so I felt like it made sense.”
The award-winning superstar also admitted that he knew from the first listen of the track that he had to ask Shelton to join him.
“I feel like I’m a great A&R and so I was listening to the song over and over and over and trying to figure out, like, somebody can be on this song,” Brown previously shared during a chat on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen. “And Blake was the first person that popped into my head. So I sent it to him and then within 30 minutes he texted me back and said he’s on it. So that was just a crossing my fingers, hoping he could find time to record it.”
Brown and Shelton have a history together as Brown often pays tribute to Shelton during his live concerts with an a cappella rendition of his chart-topping hit “Ole Red.” In 2020, Shelton even enlisted Brown as a mentor for Team Blake on NBC’s The Voice.
The season 22 finale of NBC’s The Voice aired on Tuesday evening (Dec. 13) at 9/8c on NBC and will air again tomorrow (Dec. 14) on Peacock.
The two-hour finale also featured performances from Kelly Clarkson, Maluma, OneRepublic, Adam Lambert, BRELAND and the season 21 winner of The Voice, Girl Named Tom.
Additionally, The Voice coaches—Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Camila Cabello and John Legend—also took to the stage alongside The Voice finalists—Omar Jose Cardona, Brayden Lape, Bryce Leatherwood, Morgan Myles, and bodie.
