BLAKE SHELTON AND HIS OKLAHOMA FRIENDS ARE ALL FOR THE HALL

Shelton’s final tour stop raises nearly $800,000 for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Blake Shelton knew exactly how to impress on the final night of his 2024 Back to the Honky Tonk Tour: lean into his roots and call up his friends. The Ada, Oklahoma, native’s Saturday night (March 30) performance at Tulsa’s BOK Center was brimming with guest performers, all fellow Okies. The special occasion was Oklahoma Is All for the Hall, a fundraiser for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s education programs. Even Gwen Stefani showed up to sing.

“Hey, everybody, say hello to my personal favorite new Oklahoman!” Shelton said to introduce his wife, the night’s only unannounced special guest. Stefani—lead singer of the band No Doubt, a solo artist, and, like Shelton, a former coach on the TV singing competition The Voice—joined her husband for a trio of songs midway through Shelton’s set. Together, they performed their two country radio chart-toppers, “Nobody But You” and “Happy Anywhere,” as well as “Purple Irises,” a recently released duet from Stefani’s next album.

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton perform – courtesy of Jamie Wendt

“I don’t know if you guys have a clue what you bought a ticket for. Get comfortable—this is gonna take a while, okay?” Shelton told the crowd after opening his set with 2021’s “Come Back as a Country Boy.” “We’re here for one reason tonight. . . . That’s to celebrate country music like Okies do.”

Shelton’s fans were up to the task. They knew all the words to “Some Beach” and “Austin,” a pair of Shelton’s early-career #1s. They cheered at every mention of their home state. They even showed up with gifts.

“When something’s cool, it’s cool,” Shelton said as he showed off a flag held by a fan close to the stage, featuring one of Shelton’s high school photos on one side and one of Stefani’s on the other.

“We were meant to be—look at those mullets!” Shelton joked.

Blake Shelton holds a flag with photo of himself – courtesy of Phil Clarkin Photography

Shelton performed more than twenty of his songs during the course of the evening, interspersed with appearances from his special guests. In between Shelton’s performances, Kristin Chenoweth, Wade Hayes, the Swon Brothers, and Country Music Hall of Fame members Ronnie Dunn and Vince Gill—all introduced by radio host Storme Warren of TuneIn Radio’s The Big 615—each offered up two songs of their own. (Additionally, local country artist Justin Adams opened the show.) Dunn’s mini-set, in particular, was warmly received, with the Brooks & Dunn member sharing memories of local honky-tonks Duke’s Country and Tulsa City Limits. “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” had the crowd line dancing at their seats.

Despite being, as she acknowledged, the outlier of the bunch, Broadway star Chenoweth earned one of the biggest standing ovations of the night. Accompanied only by Shelton’s keyboard player, Philip de Steiguer, she performed a gorgeous cover of the Willie Nelson hit “Always on My Mind” and brought the house down with a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

“This is for anybody out there who has dreams just like I did growing up in this town,” said Chenoweth, who is originally from the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow.

Kristin Chenoweth – courtesy of Phil Clarkin Photography

That theme emerged once more during Gill’s set, when he shared an unreleased song, “Heroes.” He and guitarist Jack Schneider also performed “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” dedicating the song to Shelton’s brother Richie, who died in a car accident in 1990, and fellow Oklahoman and Country Music Hall of Fame member-elect Toby Keith, who died of cancer in February.

Gill began the All for the Hall series of fundraising concerts in 2005 by suggesting that country music artists donate the proceeds from one annual performance to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Shelton’s Saturday show raised nearly $800,000 for the nonprofit museum’s education programs, making it the most successful All for the Hall benefit offered outside of Nashville to date. The museum’s educational offerings directly served more than 230,000 people last year though in-person and virtual programs.