Despite being a best-selling artist in a music genre where God and spirituality are frequent topics, country star Blake Shelton admits he hasn't been much of a churchgoer until now.
A big reason is because of girlfriend Gwen Stefani, who convinced him to start going to church regularly, which he says made him realize it was time to "turn a page."
"I believe in God now more than I ever have in my life," Shelton told The Tennesseean. "The biggest part of that is just how (Gwen) came into my life and now our relationship. It’s just too weird.
"If you take God out of it, it doesn’t make sense. If you put God into it, everything that’s happened with us makes sense.”
Shelton scored his 26th No. 1 country hit earlier this year with the Grammy-nominated song "God's Country," which is also the name of the album he released in November.
He first heard the song when a version of it was sent to him by his producer when Shelton was on his farm.
“It was the most shocking moment I’ve had in my 20 years of doing this,” Shelton told The Tennesseean. “I was in a place 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. 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."
Shelton and Stefani, who have been together for four years since meeting as coaches on "The Voice," also have a new duet together called "Nobody But You." The couple first listened to it together when Shelton was dropping Stefani off at her son's school, according to The Tennesseean.
"I was just floored,” Shelton said. “I realized how important that song was for me, and where I am in my life right now. I think that’s why (songwriter) Shane (McAnally) was trying to get it to me because he knows enough about my personal life … to know, ‘This has got to get to Blake because it fits his story.'''
The new song is the second duet he has recorded with Stefani, following "Go Ahead and Break My Heart," which they released in 2016.
"I just think it’s magical,” Shelton said about the new song. “I literally think it’s as important of a song as I’ve ever recorded."