The Tragic Death Of Blake Shelton's Older Brother
The youngest of three children, Blake Shelton looked up to his older siblings — especially his brother, Richie (via Country Living). As the oldest, Shelton looked up to Richie the most during his childhood. But when the country singer was 14 years old in 1990, his big brother was taken away from him in the most tragic of circumstances.
As Country Fan Cast reports, Richie was killed in a car accident when he was 24 years old. His girlfriend was driving him and her 3-year-old son in a car when they crested a hill and crashed into the back of a school bus. All three died as a result of the accident, which resulted in the loss of a major part of the Shelton family.
"Look, you're never going to get over it," Shelton said in 2018 during an interview with Cowboys & Indians. "I wanted to be him. I wanted to look like him, dress like him, listen to what he listened to and be into the things he was into. So when he was killed in a car accident, it was literally like the world went silent. There was a void in my world all of a sudden, and I'm still not over I. I'm just used to it."
Blake Shelton co-wrote Over You with Miranda Lambert about his brother Richie
This experience has obviously had a huge impact on Blake Shelton, and the lingering trauma is evident in some of his songs. Miranda Lambert's "Over You," which was co-written by Shelton, was about Richie. Lambert described it as a "special moment" for her and ex-husband Shelton, which helped him open up about the feelings of loss and sadness for his sibling.
"It's one of those moments where even if you're married to someone, sometimes you find something new about them," she told "Essentials Radio" on Apple Music (via People). "Dudes don't open up about things but he started telling me about the experience of it all." Lambert encouraged Shelton to write his feelings down on paper, which she felt she could help as "an outside perspective".
To Lambert, the experience not only helped her understand Shelton but was a way to help his family heal, too. "I'm so glad we shared that song and that it helped his family heal, to have that together," she concluded.