Blake Shelton on His Brother Richie’s Death: ‘You’re Never Gonna Get Over It’
Blake Shelton's older brother, Richie, died when Shelton was just 14 years old, and in a new interview, the country singer and star of The Voice admits, "I'm still not over it."
"Look, you’re never gonna get over it," Shelton tells Cowboys & Indians. "For me, my brother was my big brother. I mean, I wanted to be him. I wanted to look like him, dress like him, listen to what he listened to and be into the things he was into. So when he was killed in a car accident, it was literally like the world went silent. There was a void in my world all of a sudden, and I’m still not over it. I’m just used to it."
Richie died in a car accident on Nov. 13, 1990, at the age of 24. His death inspired Shelton and then-wife Miranda Lambert to write "Over You," which won both the CMA and ACM Song of the Year honors. Some of the lyrics sprang right from Shelton's life, including, "Your favorite records make me feel better / 'Cause you sing along with every song / I know you didn't mean to give them to me."
"That's one of the things I got when my brother was killed," he told the Associated Press in 2011. "The family gave me all his albums and things like that. I just listened to them over and over again to feel like he was there."
The singer turned to Twitter in 2017 on the anniversary of his brother's death to remember him, writing, "Lost my brother 27 years ago today. I was only 14 at the time but it changed my life forever ... Made me realize that life is precious and there's no time like RIGHT NOW to go for it ... We still miss you, Richie!!"
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