Gwen Stefani Says Blake Shelton ‘Doesn’t Really Write’ Songs Anymore

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton have collaborated on a number of musical projects throughout their five-year relationship, but according to Stefani, they won’t be doing any more songwriting anytime soon. “I wish he would write with me, but he doesn’t really write anymore,” she said during an appearance on DJ Khaled’s The First One podcast.

“We’ve actually written three songs together — we wrote a Christmas song together, and then we wrote two other songs,” she continued, referencing their holiday duet “You Make It Feel Like Christmas,” which appeared on Stefani’s 2017 album of the same name. “But he just doesn’t like writing that much,” she added with a laugh. “It makes me so mad.”

Stefani and Shelton both began writing songs at a young age — Stefani for her band No Doubt and Shelton as a songwriter in Nashville. “Some songs, they were just given to me by God,” Stefani recalled of some of her previous work, citing hits like “Don’t Speak” and “Hollaback Girl.” “I don’t feel like I had anything to do it… these songs are just so amazing, it wasn’t me. I don’t come with the ideas. They’re just given to me and then I just share them. That’s how I look at it. I’m just grateful for all of them.”

The 51-year-old is currently working on her upcoming album, which will contain her single “Let Me Reintroduce Myself” and new release “Slow Clap.” “When you’re in a band, you sit down together and you listen to the songs and you decide which ones you want on the record and you have this family that you’re working with,” Stefani explained of the album-making process in a band versus as a solo artist. “But when you’re on your own and you collaborate and writing with a bunch of different people, you kind of feel like you need someone to do that with.”

Now, she has Shelton to help her out. “Yesterday, Blake and I sat down and listened to, like, every song — which is a lot of songs — and just put our favorite stars by which ones,” she recalled. “We definitely bounce off each other.”

She added that Shelton’s 10 years on The Voice have helped expand his musical knowledge. “He knows all genres from being on that show,” Stefani said. “He has a really good ear for hits, or just songs that are the ones that we all like. So, definitely lean on him a lot.”