Blake Shelton Reunites With Trace Adkins On New Single, ‘Hell Right’

“It’s just so much fun and just so infectious,” Shelton says of the song.

By

Lauren Jo Black

| Posted on

August 12, 2019

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2:53 pm

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Trace Adkins and Blake Shelton; Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Blake Shelton will follow up the success of his latest chart-topping hit, “God’s Country,” with “Hell Right,” a collaboration with his longtime friend Trace Adkins.

Written by David Garcia, Brett Tyler and Michael Hardy, “Hell Right” reunites the pair nearly a decade after their massive hit “Hillbilly Bone” hit the radio waves.

Shelton came across “Hell Right” after he was already done recording his next project. While he admits he “wasn’t even thinking” about new material, he gave the song a listen once he found out Michael Hardy, aka HARDY, who also co-wrote “God’s Country,” was a writer on it.

“With the success of ‘God’s Country’ and just knowing how talented that guy is, I thought, ‘Man, I better at least listen to it even though I don’t see myself going in and recording.’ About three-quarters of the way through the song, I decided, ‘Oh, my God, I’m not done recording. I’ve gotta go cut this song,’” Shelton recently shared (quote via Nash Country Daily).

That’s exactly what he did and adding in Adkins’ iconic vocals was a no-brainer for Shelton.

“I decided it would be great to have Trace Adkins on this [song] just because he’s got that low, deep, big voice and he’s so great at the ad-lib stuff,” the Oklahoma native explained. “He just brings a certain quality to any recording that nobody else can touch. The guy’s got so much personality in his voice and the way he sings, and I still think that he’s one of the most underrated country artists out there, so I called him and asked if he would be on the record with me and he said something that was close to ‘hell right,’ but it was a different cuss word.”

“Hell Right” will be released to digital retailers this Friday, August 16.

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Lauren Jo Black

Written by

Lauren Jo Black

Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.