Blake Shelton Shares the Advice He'd Give His Younger Self

Blake Shelton has been in the music business for over 20 years now, releasing his debut single, "Austin," back in 2001. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, The Voice coach looked back on his time in the music industry, sharing a few pieces of advice he would have given himself when he was starting out — including some tips on his hair.

"I would have told that kid, 'Hey man, the mullet's not as cool as you think it is,'" he joked, adding that in hindsight, he would have taken things a little bit slower. "And I would have told myself to get more rest back then. When I started I was 24 and lived life to the max back then. It's probably why I ran out of battery so soon." Shelton attempted to grow back his mullet when quarantine began in 2020 but told Bobby Bones on The Bobby Bones Show earlier this year but realized that "for me, you can't be fat and have a mullet." He added, "In order to get away with it, you have to have something else going for you. Back in the day when I had one, I was skinny, and that's not how it is anymore."

"If I'm going to have the mullet, I have to lose 150 pounds," he added. Shelton eventually got rid of his mullet but hasn't stopped making music — he's currently preparing to release his latest album, Body Language, on May 21. "Here I am sitting here talking to you 20 years later after 'Austin' came out — not only talking to you but talking about new music that's still coming out," he told PEOPLE "I don't know how this happened to me, but I thank God every day. I've just been super blessed and super lucky. It's unbelievable."

Shelton has already released multiple songs from Body Language including lead single "Minimum Wage" and the reflective "Bible Verses." The project features two collaborations — "Happy Anywhere" with Gwen Stefani and the title track, which features The Swon Brothers.

"We've been working on this album on and off for two years now, and I'm very proud of what we have put together," Shelton previously said in a statement. "We certainly had some unique challenges with the pandemic, but we also had a lot of fun. We explored new sounds while making sure to get in some classic country. I'm also thrilled to have my buddies The Swon Brothers featured on the title track as both co-writers and vocalists. Can't wait for y'all to hear it!"