Despite his 26 No. 1 country singles, Blake Shelton felt that his career as a hitmaker was slipping away before he released "God's Country."

Since his 2001 debut with his single "Austin," Shelton has been a regular on top of the country music charts. But "God's Country" has taken on a whole new meaning for a singer who believed that the best days of his career were long behind him.

"In my last album, it's weird because even if I said, 'Hey man, my last record felt like things were slipping, this is slipping off a little bit here,' people would say to me, 'What are you talking about? You had the No. 1 song, the album is gold, a platinum single?'" Shelton remarked at a No. 1 party for the song this week. "But you kind of feel it."

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Shelton's last album, Texoma Shore, reached No. 1 on Billboard's Country Albums chart and produced three Top 10 country singles. The album's lead-off single, "I'll Name the Dogs" became his twenty-fifth No. 1 single. The follow-up singles "I Lived It" and "Turnin' Me On" reached the Top 10, peaking at No. 3 and No. 10, respectively.

The Voice judge was at home working on his ranch in Oklahoma when he was sent "God's Country," and he immediately stopped what he was doing.

"So I was back home in Oklahoma and Scott [Hendricks] sent me 'God's Country,'" he recalls. "I was just trying to drive and look at my phone at the same time. I figured out a way to play the songs inside of this machine, through the Bluetooth that it had, and that's when I heard 'God's Country.'"

Shelton then immediately called Hendricks back. "I stopped and I called Scott and I go, 'Man, I don't know who or where that song came from, but that's literally the kind of song that makes me want to make another record — that reignites my excitement for, not for country music, but for what I do in country music,'" the hitmaker says.

It was a good call from Shelton, as "God's Country" notched him his 26th No. 1 single and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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