Blake Shelton’s recent visit to The Kelly Clarkson Show on May 16 brought plenty of laughs, heartfelt stories, and a blast from the past that fans simply can’t get enough of—a rare childhood photo of Blake rocking a leather jacket and stealing the spotlight at a beauty pageant.
A Vintage Moment Worth Sharing
The photo captured a young Blake, barely recognizable with his short red hair and a seriously cool black leather jacket emblazoned with the word “Turbo.” Singing into a microphone like a seasoned performer, Blake’s early star quality shines through in this throwback moment. Kelly Clarkson, clearly a fan of the nostalgic snapshot, shared it on air—much to Blake’s amused chagrin.
“Look at you, you’re so cute!” Clarkson exclaimed, playfully grilling him on what he might have been singing. Blake joked that it could have been either “Cat Scratch Fever” or “Lick It Up” by KISS—two songs wildly inappropriate for a child’s performance. Clarkson wasn’t buying it.
“Shut up,” she laughed, shaking her head.
Finally, Shelton admitted, “Probably ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ if I’m guessing.”
Behind the Look: Mom’s Touch
Blake confessed he didn’t pull off the look solo. “My mom did my hair, dressed me—that was the closest thing we could find to Michael Jackson’s jacket we could possibly find,” he explained, referencing the unmistakably Thriller-inspired style.
Clarkson couldn’t resist teasing him further: “You were her pageant queen.”
Pageants and Early Humiliations
Longtime fans know that Blake’s experience in beauty pageants was a significant, if sometimes embarrassing, part of his childhood. Inspired by his mother, Blake joined local Oklahoma pageants after years of watching his older sister compete.
“It was very humiliating for me,” Blake admitted during a 2001 interview with Access Hollywood. “Because it was like me, I was a 7-year-old boy, with 30 or 40 little girls. I did okay in the talent portion of the pageant, but I told mom, if that’s what I have to do to sing, I don’t want to sing anymore. My beauty pageant days were short-lived.”
A Charming Glimpse into the Past
This leather-jacketed, microphone-wielding young Blake Shelton photo is a rare, endearing peek into the early life of a country music superstar. It reminds fans that even icons start somewhere—and sometimes those beginnings come with a little help from Mom, a dash of nostalgia, and a whole lot of charm.
