“Monumental and exciting and unexpected”: Gwen Stefani gushes over her first ACM nominations

Getty Images/Getty Images for Children’s Diabetes FoundationPop mainstay Gwen Stefani is getting her moment of country stardom, with two back-to-back chart-topping singles and now, her first ACM Awards nomination, together with her fiancé, Blake Shelton.

In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week, Gwen says it’s a big deal to her to find success in a genre that she’s just dipping her toes into for the first time. She’s also giving plenty of credit to her duet partner and soon-to-be husband, who sings with her on hit singles “Nobody but You” and “Happy Anywhere.”

“I mean, I really just hopped on a couple of songs,” Gwen says. “Which was an honor. I mean, Blake Shelton has 27 number-one radio hits.”

As for her country success? Gwen says she’s just as surprised as anyone else.

“To be on a song that goes number-one in a genre that I have no business being part of — twice! — and now up for these awards, it’s pretty monumental and exciting and unexpected,” she points out.

Gwen adds that getting to know country music a little bit better has taught her a lot, especially when it comes to songwriting.

“The whole genre is just such an incredible writing community…I feel so much respect, and I’ve learned so much from all the songs Blake has show me, and just the different artists. I relate to that because I’m a songwriter,” she continues.

Blake and Gwen are nominated in the ACMs Music Event of the Year category for “Nobody but You.” They’ll find out whether they’ve won when the show airs on April 18 on CBS, beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.


By Carena Liptak
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