Blake Shelton Says There's A "Good Chance" Of A Las Vegas Residency In His Near Future
During a recent interview with PEOPLE, the country hitmaker and Oklahoma native revealed that he is interested in playing Las Vegas and that he has always wanted to do a show similar to Garth Brooks’ one-man Vegas residency show. He even admitted that he was “pretty jealous” of Brooks when he held his massive Vegas residency at the Wynn as he wanted to but didn’t have the time to pursue a residency himself.
“I’ve always wanted to do a show like [Garth’s],” Shelton admitted to the outlet.
However, now that the singer recently wrapped his Friends & Heroes tour, and he has some extra time on his hands, he is thinking about hosting a Vegas residency and says there’s a “good chance” it may happen.
“Now I probably waited too long because I don’t play guitar as good as I used to,” Shelton continued to tell the publication. “The key thing for Garth was that he could just walk out there and play a million different songs. I always meant to do something like that. It’s just my career hasn’t had the window of time to do it up until now. I definitely think that there’s a good chance of me doing something like that.”
Shelton did add that no contracts have been signed or anything, but he has received several offers.
While Shelton has not yet held a Vegas Residency, his wife Gwen Stefani has held several and recently wrapped up her ‘Gwen Stefani – Just A Girl’ Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.
“You know, the difference in what Gwen does and what I do is monumental,” Shelton explained. “When I perform, I’m making George Strait look like he’s running a marathon up there. I’m a going-to-stand-in-front-of-the-microphone kind of guy. Resting isn’t something that I have to spend a lot of time thinking about after my shows. Normally, I just have to sit down, and then I’m good.”
Shelton also admitted during the interview that the Las Vegas strip doesn’t have many country music venues, so he is bringing Ole Red to the strip.
“I’ve been going to Las Vegas for 20 years now, and the one thing that I’ve noticed, and people talk about, is there’s not enough country music venues,” Shelton told the outlet. “There’s especially nothing right down in the midst of the strip and in the center of everything.”
The Voice coach recently announced plans to expand his Ole Red properties.
The just-announced Ole Red Las Vegas Bar & Restaurant, which is project to open in 2023 is located in front of Bally’s Las Vegas at the Grand Bazaar Shops, will be a $30 million development and 27,000 square-foot property will include four stories of food and entertainment as well as 4,500 square foot rooftop bar with some stunning views of the Las Vegas skyline.
The “Come Back As A Country Boy” singer and Grand Ole Opry member hopes Ole Red Las Vegas will help give a stage to up-and-coming country artists.
“I just love having this safe place for new artists to come,” Shelton shared. “If they were just trying to play gigs out of the back of their van or truck like we all did starting up, they could never afford the best production.”
Shelton added, “If they come into Ole Red, they will be at that same level of top artists. They’re going to get to sing in front of a huge screen with incredible lights and incredible sound and look like a star. That’s the difference. I love that about this brand and these bars. It starts with music, and then we figure out what else to do around that.”