A Timeline of Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s Musical Romance

Stefani joined the panel of coaches for the seventh season of “The Voice” in September 2014. She replaced Christina Aguilera and joined a panel that included Shelton, Adam Levine, and fellow newcomer Pharrell Williams. According to Shelton, however, he and Stefani weren’t that close at first. “[I] never really got to know her, other than small talk,” he told Billboard in 2016.

Still, it sounds like she made an impression. In October 2023, while celebrating Stefani’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Shelton recounted some of his first perceptions of her. “The first time that I ever met Gwen was in 2014. She wasn’t like any other famous person that I had ever met before. She drove herself to work in a black minivan with car seats in it,” he said. “She didn’t roll in with security. She came in with a baby and two little boys, which at the time worked like security because nobody was going near – it was chaos . . . It was clear to me that she was a mother first and foremost over anything else in the world – that was her No. 1 job.”

Lambert and Shelton, who had been married since 2010 and together since 2006, announced their divorce in July 2015. Us Weekly reported that the couple’s divorce was finalized almost immediately after the announcement. “This is not the future we envisioned, and it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends, and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter,” the couple said in a joint statement. It was the second divorce for Shelton, whose marriage to Kaynette Williams ended in 2006.

After 13 years of marriage, nearly 20 years together, and three kids, Stefani and Rossdale announced their divorce in 2015. “While the two of us have come to the mutual decision that we will no longer be partners in marriage, we remain partners in parenthood and are committed to jointly raising our three sons in a happy and healthy environment,” they said in a statement to People.

Shelton later told Billboard that his and Stefani’s divorces happening around the same time was part of what brought them closer together, first as friends. “She didn’t tell me much, because we didn’t know each other at the time,” he said, “but she said, ‘I’m going through something very similar to what you’re going through. I understand. And I hate it.’ That’s kind of how our friendship and bond started, that day . . . Next thing I know, I wake up and she’s all I care about, and I’m wondering if she feels the same about me.”

After rumors kept circling – along with paparazzi snaps of the costars looking very cozy at parties – Shelton’s reps finally confirmed to E! News that he and Stefani were an item. They stayed fairly low-key for a while, only starting to step out together in early 2016, like this photo at a pre-Grammys party.

The couple made their first big appearance together at the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscars party, walking the red carpet hand in hand and posing for all the photographers along the way.

After five years of dating, the couple announced their engagement on Instagram. Stefani posted a sweet picture of her and Shelton, with her ring finger clearly visible. “@blakeshelton yes please!” she captioned it, adding a ring emoji.

The pair said “I do” on July 3, 2021 in a ceremony at Blake’s Tishomingo ranch in Oklahoma. Shortly after their wedding, Carson Daly, who had been a guest, revealed that Shelton played an original song he’d written for Stefani during their vows. “‘Reach the Star,’ I think it was called,” Daly said during an appearance on “The Today Show.” “Not a dry eye in the house. That was a highlight.”

Stefani celebrated Shelton when he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 12. “The reason Blake Shelton is here today on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is because you are part of the country dream, the Hollywood dream and you are part of the American dream,” she said in her speech, per People. “And everybody knows you are my dream come true. I love you.”

Shelton returned the favor and honored his wife when she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 19, bringing Stefani to tears with his words. “Standing here almost 10 years later after I first met her, I can say without question that being a mother is still the most important thing in her life. And I got to tell you all, that’s rare in this business,” he said. “. . . She has risen to the top over and over again with her unique style that has made the world fall in love with her,” he continued, adding, “Not as much as me, though.”