Blake Lost His Older Brother When He Was Young
Blake Shelton was only 14 years old when his older brother, Richie, passed away. As you’d expect, Richie’s passing was incredibly hard for a young Blake to cope with.
Many years later, Blake channeled his feelings into the song “Over You.” He co-wrote the song with his then-wife, Miranda Lambert.
Yet Blake couldn’t find the strength to record “Over You” himself. He gave it to Miranda to record, and she turned the song into a #1 country hit.
Blake has performed “Over You” a few times since, and it’s always emotional when he does.
Blake Bonds With Voice Contestant Over Their Shared Heartache
During rehearsals for Season 23 of The Voice, Blake bonded with his team member NOIVAS over their shared heartache. Like Blake, NOIVAS lost his brother when he was young.
In an emotional moment, NOIVAS mentioned how he and Blake are quite similar. “Not just because we are two tall guys and pretty good-looking, if I do say so myself. But even the fact that we both lost brothers.”
Blake asked, “How old were you when you lost your brother?”
NOVIAS said he was 21 when his brother Alfred passed away. Blake responded that he was 14 when he lost Richie.
Blake said Richie would be amazed to see how far he’s come in his career, especially since he loved music too:
“My brother, if he had been around, he would’ve freaked out if he had known what I had gone on to do, he said. “He was just such a huge music fan. You could hear him coming six blocks away, the stereo blaring out of his truck.”
NOIVAS said his brother Alfred was a physical therapist. He passed away in 2013.
“He was always the person that you looked up to” NOIVAS said. “He was a physical therapist. He was a great father. The last thing he told me was to do me. Before my brother passed away, I was very quiet. It wasn’t until I lost my brother that I started to become fearless.”
NOIVAS promised to give every performance his all in honor of his brother. He definitely brought his A-game to his playoffs performance, which you can watch below.