A kid from Ada, Oklahoma whose signature song is about a prison dog named Ol' Red somehow became People's Sexiest Man Alive and married pop icon Gwen Stefani. Blake Shelton is one of modern country music's most striking contradictions, and his career makes no sense on paper until you see the strategy underneath.

Shelton worked as country music's Trojan horse: he used The Voice and primetime television to force mainstream America to listen to country without ever changing his sound, still singing about dirt roads and small-town life. From a fumbled debut and a collapsed record label to a late-career label shake-up, his longevity came from never leaving his hometown behind.

• His debut single "Austin" spent five weeks at number one, tying Billy Ray Cyrus's 1992 record

• Bobby Braddock, who co-wrote "He Stopped Loving ...