Blake Shelton turned to social media to address an online controversy over his and Gwen Stefani‘s performances at the American Music Awards on Monday night (May 26), brushing it off with the internet equivalent of a shrug.
As Rolling Stone reports, Shelton and Stefani performed separately during the broadcast. The country superstar sang his latest single, “Stay Country or Die Tryin’,” then returned to the stage to introduce his pop superstar wife.
Stefani delivered a medley of “The Sweet Escape” and “Hollaback Girl” before performing her recent single, “Swallow My Tears.”
Some outraged fans turned to social media afterward, reacting to the fact that the performances appeared to be obviously pre-taped.
Representatives for Shelton and Stefani did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment, and a rep for the AMAs declined to comment.
However, Shelton addressed the mini controversy without hesitation via social media:
“Just now seeing these stories about Gwen and I pre-taping our performances for the AMAs,” he posted to X on Tuesday evening (May 27).
“We came and performed when the show asked us to. Really nothing else to say,” he added with a shrugging emoji.
Lainey Wilson was also among the performers at the 2025 American Music Awards, delivering an emotional rendition of her new song, “Somewhere Over Laredo,” despite some technical problems.
Beyonce, Post Malone, Morgan Wallen and Dan + Shay walked away as winners in the night’s biggest country categories, according to CBS News.
Shelton has been focused on new music recently. His last single, “Texas,” scored him a No. 2 hit when he released it as the lead single from his new album, For Recreational Use Only, which dropped on May 9.
“Stay Country or Die Tryin'” is the second single from that project.
Shelton also spent part of 2025 on the road with the latest incarnation of his Friends & Heroes Tour. Trace Adkins, Deana Carter, Craig Morgan and The Voice alum Emily Ann Roberts accompanied Shelton on that tour, which launched on Feb. 27 and ran through March 22.
Shelton’s official tour calendar also includes a handful of upcoming festival appearances and one-off solo shows on the books through October.
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