Inside a century-old church in Pasa­dena, California, Blake Shelton sits alone on a faded wooden pew, praying. Smoke and lights are pumped into the darkened sanctuary as a camera circles, filming the video for his latest single, “Let Him In Anyway.” It’s a ballad about a recently deceased best friend whose eternal salvation is in doubt, but the director has an idea to inject some optimism into the song that is not suggested by the lyrics. He instructs two crew members to open the church doors as the song concludes, letting in streams of Cali­fornia sunshine that hint at an answered prayer.

“I try to make all my decisions by listening to what everyone else has to say,” Shelton tells Forbes. “We’ll go edit it—and if it works it works, and if it doesn’t, nobody besides you ever knows it happened.”

The 49-year-old country music superstar describes all his ventures with similar aw-shucks humility. But those he works closest with say not to underestimate the business savvy of a man who has recorded 31 No. 1 country radio hits, opened a national chain of restaurants, launched a Hollywood production company and amassed a personal fortune that Forbes estimates at more than $200 million.

“Even though he plays this folksy good ol’ boy, he’s a smart dude. I have a lot of respect for his intuition,” says Colin Reed, Shelton’s longtime friend and executive chairman of Nashville, Tennessee–based Ryman Hospitality Properties. “I think he really enjoys this persona he’s built over the years, and it’s natural—but I think he thinks about it a lot.”

In many ways, Shelton’s career has been defined by the tug-of-war between show business and the life of hunting, fishing and farming he prefers in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, where he lives on a sprawling ranch with his wife, pop star Gwen Stefani. “I don’t even care if I miss an opportunity by not responding to a text or a phone call,” he says........

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