Blake Shelton Debuts New Song at ACM Awards Revealing His ‘Most Shocking Moment’ in 20 Years

The American Country Music Awards were celebrated on April 7, just in time for Shelton to debut his latest single “God’s Country” in front of a star audience that included his wife Gwen Stefani.

42-year-old singer-songwriter Blake Shelton first teased the powerful song on March 25, when he shared a few seconds of the track via his Twitter account. He explained the meanings behind the song in a press release.

“No matter where you are from or where you’re standing it is my belief that you’re standing in God’s Country. It’s really about a state of mind. Wherever you’re from and how you feel about that place,” the Oklahoma-born said.

Shelton proved how important the single, which will be part of his upcoming album, is to him by giving a very emotional performance of the song written by Michael Hardy, Jordan Schmidt, and Devin Dawson, at the MGM Grand Garden.

Wearing an all-denim outfit, he took to the stage and delivered his spiritual tune in front of a projection of footage of natural disasters, with his wife, 49-year-old singer Gwen Stefani, respectfully and proudly giving him all her attention.

“It was the most shocking moment I’ve had in my 20 years of doing this. I was in a place physically that I consider to be God’s country doing the thing that makes me feel the most connected to God, which is working on the land.”

Shelton was given an enthusiastic and affectionate introduction by the show’s host and fellow singer-songwriter Reba McEntire

"I love this next performer for many reasons. He's charming, funny, handsome, talented, sings like an angel… and always writes his own introductions. Give it up for my fellow Oklahoman and friend, Blake Shelton!" McEntire said.

As Shelton was preparing for the big event, during the rehearsal for the presentation, the “The Voice” coach talked to Tennessean about the experience he had before hearing the song lyrics for the first time.

It was a sort of revelation for him, as he explained, for he was just getting this mystical sense of the presence of God as he worked in his field when his producer Scott Hendricks sent a draft of the song to him.

“It was the most shocking moment I’ve had in my 20 years of doing this. I was in a place physically that I consider to be God’s country doing the thing that makes me feel the most connected to God, which is working on the land,” he shared.

"And I heard that song and I had one of those moments that you hear people talk about … where they say they pulled over on the side of the highway and listened. I literally had that moment,” added Shelton.

The ACM Awards arrived at its 54th edition this year, with record-breaking host McEntire fronting the ceremony for the 16th time.

Apart from Shelton, other performers appearing at the awards show included his former wife Miranda Lambert, Christ Stapleton, Maren Morris, and Keith Urban, who was honored with the Entertainer of the Year award.

Other winners included Thomas Rhett (Male Artist of the Year), Kacey Musgraves (Female Artist of the Year), and Dan + Shay (Duo of the Year).

Dan + Shay were the big winners of the night, also taking home the awards for Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year.