If his neck don’t come out red, then Lord just keep him dead… ‘cause Blake Shelton will “Come Back As A Country Boy” or not at all. The new single, available this Friday, extolls the virtues of living the country lifestyle. “Come Back As A Country Boy” (Michael Hardy, Josh Thompson and Jordan Schmidt) is the first of several new tracks revealed from the deluxe edition of Shelton’s Body Language, due December 3.

“I think this song is an anthem for everyday hardworking country people out there,” Shelton said. “We have so much pride in who we are and what we do that, if we ever died and got the chance to live life over again, we probably wouldn’t do it if we couldn’t be country.”

The Oklahoma native moved to Nashville as a teenaged country boy to chase his dream of having a hit song on country radio, which he achieved with his chart-topping debut single, “Austin.” That same country boy has now enjoyed 36 Top 10 singles – 28 of them No. 1 hits – on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and has nearly a dozen Gold and Platinum-certified albums to his name. Over the past two decades he has accumulated more than 8.5 billion global on-demand streams, 13 million career album U.S. sales and award wins approaching the hundreds.

“Come Back As A Country Boy” is the first new track from the deluxe edition of Body Language, which has already yielded Platinum-certified No. 1 smash “Happy Anywhere” with Gwen Stefani. Body Language Deluxe is set for release on December 3 and will be available for pre-order starting this Friday.

Shelton will wrap “Friends and Heroes 2021” this weekend with shows in Grand Rapids, Detroit and Milwaukee alongside special guest Lindsay Ell as well as Martina McBride, Tracy Byrd and Trace Adkins. The tour’s recent sold-out stop at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena also included surprise guests Gwen Stefani and country music icon John Anderson.

The eight-time champion coach of the Emmy-winning show The Voice is back in action, with an all new season airing now on NBC.