When Blake Shelton heard “Let Him in Anyway,” a new song on his upcoming album, For Recreational Use Only, he knew it was special. Melodically and lyrically, he’d never heard anything like it. Written by Hardy, Zach Abend, Kyle Clark, and Carson Wallace, “Let Him in Anyway” profoundly explores loss and the idea of attempting to pray a loved one into Heaven.
Lyrics include: Hey, God| I know you know what I’m ’bout to pray, God| I just had to suck it up and say goodbye to my best friend| And I don’t ever wanna never see him again| And I know the only way to get in is through you| And he wasn’t quite the Christian he was supposed to be| And Lord, it ain’t my place| But could you let him in any way?
Shelton’s wife, Gwen Stefani, loves the song, too. And as Frontline Recordings, North America President Jon Loba recalls hearing, Shelton had to ask his wife to stop listening to it.
“He was playing it for Gwen, and Gwen started playing it for herself,” Loba says. Shelton is signed to BBR Music Group, which falls under the Frontline Recordings umbrella. “They were headed out for some event, and she had all her makeup on. She cried the first time she heard it. Then she played it again and cried and played it again and cried.” Blake is like, ‘Sweetie, you gotta get yourself together. We gotta go to this event.”
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Blake Shelton’s “Let Him In Anyway” Made Gwen Stefani Cry (A Lot)
But that’s not the most heartbreaking reaction Shelton and Loba have seen from their friends, co-workers, and family. About five weeks ago, Chris Oglesby, Sr. VP of Creative at BMG, heard the song and had an intensely emotional reaction. Loba knew Oglesby had been going through some personal things, and he dropped by his office to check on him. Oglesby told him he had just given the eulogy at his brother-in-law’s funeral. His sister has firm faith but is worried that her husband wasn’t as far in his walk with God as he needed to be. She was beside herself with worry that her husband may not be in Heaven.
While Loba intended to play the song for his team as a group, he decided that, given what Oglesby was dealing with, he would play it for him early.
“He starts to bawl his eyes out,” Loba says. “I bawl my eyes out. He says thank you and leaves.”
Loba returns to his office and meets a staff member struggling with their own walk with God. He decides to play it for them, too. About the time he hits play, Oglesby walks into his office, too. He sits down to hear it again.
The men close their eyes and listen to the song. When they open them again, Oglesby is gone. Loba asks where he went, and the other man tells him that Oglesby jumped up and ran out. Loba thought his friend was just really struggling with the song.
Blake Shelton Song Makes Label Executive Drive Self to Hospital
A few minutes later, he gets a text from Oglesby apologizing for leaving. Loba tells him evoking passion and emotion with music is the whole reason they do this job and vows to check on him.
About five minutes later, he hears from BMG/BBR Music Group General Manager Peter Strickland that Oglesby is driving himself to the hospital because he thinks he’s having a heart attack. Strickland offered to drive Oglesby, but Oglesby wouldn’t let him, so he followed him.
Loba calls Oglesby to ask him to pull over, but he has just arrived at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He planned to go to Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown, but he couldn’t make it that far.
“He was, in fact, having a heart attack,” Loba says. “They put two stents in, and they waited two weeks and put two more stents in.”
Oglesby later told Loba that he had had a couple of little flutters in his heart earlier in the week but that it was truly the emotion of the song that pushed him over the edge.
“Luckily, not too far over the edge,” Loba says. “The good news now is he’s in great shape and feels better than ever.”
Loba joked with Shelton and Hendricks they were almost brought up on murder charges.
“Let Him In Anway” is from Shelton’s May 9 album For Recreational Use Only.
(Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
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