Sixteen-year-old Zuma Rossdale isn’t just dabbling in country music. The kid’s out here giving full-blown honky-tonk performances with the confidence of someone twice his age and the vocal chops to back it up.
Zuma, Gwen Stefani’s middle son and the biological child of Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, has been making waves in the country scene, of all places. And it turns out he’s got a hell of a support system behind him. Blake Shelton, yes, that Blake Shelton, is not just cheering from the sidelines. He’s giving Zuma a stage to hone his craft, straight from the family’s Oklahoma stomping grounds at Shelton’s own Ole Red bar.
No one’s forcing this kid into a cowboy hat and boots. According to both Gavin and Blake, this is all Zuma. He’s not playing dress-up. He’s not mimicking his stepdad’s Spotify playlist. He’s deep diving into ’90s country gold and finding something that speaks to him. His setlist is straight out of a dusty jukebox, with John Michael Montgomery’s lightning-fast tongue-twister “Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)” and Blake’s own early hit “Ol’ Red.” You can’t teach taste like that.
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Gavin Rossdale, who still rocks hard in his own right, recently sat down with Us Weekly and admitted his own son is already leaving him in the dust musically. “Zuma’s begun recording. He’s out of control,” Rossdale laughed. “I’m not even the best singer in my house anymore.” For a guy who once ruled the alt-rock charts, that’s no small confession.
Turns out Zuma’s not afraid to critique his old man either. Gavin recalled a moment when he played one of his new songs for Zuma, only to be met with a grimace and a casual, “You’re not putting that out, are you?” The kid knows what he likes, and apparently what he doesn’t, and isn’t afraid to say so. “He destroyed me,” Gavin said, still laughing. “He killed me.”
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Meanwhile, Blake Shelton is just as humbled. The country icon recently told Taste of Country Nights that Zuma is leading the charge creatively. “Zuma will spend about 20 minutes, him and his guitar,” Blake said. “It’s not me showing him stuff, it’s him showing me stuff.” The guy with 28 No. 1 hits is getting schooled by his teenage stepson. “It’s almost every single day. I love it. I can’t wait til I get home.”
Zuma isn’t just parroting whatever’s hot right now. At a recent Ole Red performance, he sprinkled in some Zach Top and even covered “Neon Moon,” proving his country IQ runs deep. This isn’t a phase. This is a young artist finding his voice with roots planted firmly in tradition.
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Gwen Stefani, the glam-pop queen turned honorary country girl, is all in. Watching her son chase something so different from her own career path but so full of heart has got to be surreal. She and Blake might have come from opposite musical planets, but their blended family seems to orbit around one very real, very talented teenager with a guitar in hand and a whole lot to say.
It’s not every day a kid of two rock and pop legends ends up leaning into traditional country. Zuma Rossdale is doing it his way, and from the looks of it, he’s just getting started. The next great country storyteller might be growing up backstage at Ole Red, and his name’s already lighting up the marquee.
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