Blake Shelton: ‘Nobody But You’ Songwriter Shane McAnally Recalls Sending ‘Awkward Text’ to Gwen Stefani

When Blake Shelton heard “Nobody But You” for the first time, he was with his girlfriend, Gwen Stefani. The song was co-written by hit songwriter Shane McAnally, who wrote the song with Ross Copperman, Josh Osborne and Tommy Lee James, and had both Shelton and Stefani in mind when writing the romantic song.

“I had worked with Gwen Stefani, just a few days before I went in to write this song,” McAnally said, in an interview that Stefani shared on social media. “When I heard the melody, it made me think of Blake, and it sounded like a love song. I just said, ‘We should kind of write this with them in mind.’”

“And then, I was working on Songland, and we did a promotion piece on The Voice,” he continued. “And I saw Blake.”

Shelton also vividly remembers that day, although he had no idea how one brief conversation was about to change his life.

“I was on the set of The Voice one day, and Shane McAnally came and said, ‘Hey man, I got a song I’ve gotta get to you,’” Shelton recalled.

“And he goes, ‘Why don’t you send it to me?’” McAnally continued. “I’m still that scared songwriter, even though I’ve had hits and things. I’m still like, ‘How do I send it to you? I don’t have your number.’”

Shelton, in a rush, suggested McAnally send it to Stefani, which resulted in one of the more awkward texts McAnally recalls sending, even though it worked out in the end.

“It was an awkward text for me to send, to say, ‘Hey, Blake just told me to send you this song for him,’” McAnally recounted. “It was scary, but it paid off.”

Shelton might not have initially given McAnally much attention, but as soon as the song started playing, he knew he had struck gold.

“I felt like instantly I knew this was a special song,” Shelton said.

When Shelton decided to record “Nobody But You,” he knew he wanted Stefani to sing on it with him.

“It’s basically a song about Gwen and I. Why wouldn’t I have her sing this song with me?” Shelton explained. “She comes from the whatever world, ska, pop world that she comes from, and I’m a straight-up country artist. The fact that we ended up together to begin with, much less make a record, is unbelievable. It’s just literally a dream come true.”

Shelton and Stefani performed “Nobody But You” at the 2020 Grammy Awards. Download the song on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Getty / Kevin Mazur