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When Blake Shelton had a No. 1 hit with his 2001 debut single, \u201cAustin\u201d, likely not even Shelton could have predicted the career he would have. More than 24 years after \u201cAustin\u201d was released, Shelton is back near the top of the charts with his current \u201cStay Country Or Die Tryin\u2019\u201d single. It\u2019s a song that seems likely to become his 31st No. 1 hit<\/a>, following \u201cTexas\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cStay Country Or Die Tryin\u2019\u201d is on his latest For Recreational Use Only <\/em>album. Written by Beau Bailey, Graham Barham, Sam Ellis, and Drew Parker, the song celebrates the beauty of both country music and the country way of living. It\u2019s a trend that many artists are trying to get away from, but fortunately not Shelton. It\u2019s Shelton who is firmly planting his flag in country music, making the genre better for it.<\/p>\n \u201cStay Country Or Die Tryin\u2019\u201d says, \u201cFrom the red, white, and blue flyin\u2019 high at the farm \/ To the Boone and Crockett stud on the wall in the barn \/ Where the magnolias bloom, there\u2019s a lab on the lawn \/ Where your buddy and your boat both got the name John \/ In God, we trust \/ Detroit, we rust \/ Redneck letter testifyin\u2019 \/ From the born in the cut \/ \u2018Til the day that I\u2019m dust \/ I\u2019m-a stay country or die tryin\u2019<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Shelton knew as soon as he heard \u201cStay Country Or Die Tryin\u2019\u201d that he wanted to record the song.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I heard \u2018Stay Country or Die Tryin\u2019,\u2019 it took me back to the first time I heard \u2018Ol\u2019 Red\u2019 or \u2018God\u2019s Country,\u2019\u201d Shelton recalls<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s got so much energy and is full of those little catchphrases and things we say out in the country. I absolutely fell in love with it. I\u2019m proud of this recording\u2014and I love singing it live even more.\u201d<\/p>\n The song perfectly sums up Shelton\u2019s life, especially on the Oklahoma ranch he calls home.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lyric is just a bunch of almost phrases and things that are picturesque to growing up in the kind of backwoods and country, and that diehard mentality,\u201d Shelton tells<\/a> American Songwriter.<\/em> \u201cIt\u2019s, \u2018I know where I come from.\u2019 That\u2019s kind of how we are \u2014 a little very prideful, a little bit stubborn. And that\u2019s kind of the guy in that song. There\u2019s a pride to being a hillbilly and not going to town for any damn thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Shelton\u2019s 30 number one hits, with the likelihood of soon having 31, puts him in an elite list<\/a> of country artists with that many singles landing at the top of the charts. The other artists on that list include \u00a0George Strait, Alabama, Kenny Chesney, and Ronnie Milsap\u00a0<\/p>\n Photo by Taylor Hill\/FilmMagi<\/em>c<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhy Blake Shelton Recorded \u201cStay Country Or Die Tryin\u2019\u201d<\/h3>\n