by Alanna Conaway
It should have been called Blake Shelton Week in Nashville, as it was near impossible to go somewhere without encountering some event related to the superstar.

On Tuesday (Sept. 22), he celebrated his five-year anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member with two shows inside the prestigious wooden circle. The following night (Sept. 23), he threw one of the biggest street parties ever on Music Row, drawing in 10,000 fans for his free performance. By the time Thursday (Sept. 24) rolled around, he was throwing back a few more to celebrate his most recent five No. 1 songs: “Doing What She Likes,” “My Eyes,” “Neon Light,” “Lonely Tonight” and “Sangria.”

Combined, those five songs have spent a total of 200 weeks on the charts and extended Blake’s record-breaking streak of back-to-back No. 1s. The giant party was appropriate in scale, drawing out some of Nashville’s biggest songwriters, including Kelley Lovelace, James Slater, Adam Sanders, Shane McAnally, Trent Willmon, Cole Taylor and others. Because Blake is now a multimedia celebrity, VIP guests such as Today show host Hoda Kotb were also in attendance.

The outside patio of Losers Bar in Midtown was packed with hundreds, filling the parking lot below the deck. Blake stood beneath fans (the electric kind) and sipped away on his cold Bud Light while the songwriters behind the hits got their moment in the spotlight.

Wade Kirby and Philbilly (Phil O’Donnell) received their plaques and recognition for penning “Doin’ What She Likes,” followed by Andrew Dorff, Tommy Lee James and Josh Osborne for “My Eyes.” Andrew was also awarded for co-writing “Neon Light” with the help of Mark Irwin and Josh Kear. Songwriters Ryan Hurd and Brent Anderson had the meaningful honor of celebrating their first No. 1 song “Lonely Tonight.” Josh Osborne returned to the stage for “Sangria,” which he wrote with friends J.T. Harding and Old Dominion’s Trevor Rosen (who was in Georgia with the band).

After patiently waiting for nearly two hours, Blake thanked the key people in his life for the countless hours put into making his career what it is today, especially the 10 writers standing in his presence.

“I’m literally nothing and don’t even exist without these songwriters that write these songs for me,” Blake said. “It is important to me to continue to look for the best songs. It’s important to me that we don’t get stuck in a rut with our songs, so we keep pushing forward and looking for the best and the next thing to do. So thank you, songwriters, for pushing yourselves and giving me a chance to record your songs.”

Blake’s current single, “Gonna,” sits just outside the Top 10. His upcoming album, Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits, arrives Oct. 23.

Originally published as: "Blake Shelton Week Capped with Quintuple No. 1 Celebration"
http://www.countryweekly.com/news/blake-shelton-week-capped-quintuple-no-1-celebration