Blake Shelton Says It’s ‘Been a Crazy’ Year During CMT Acceptance Speech

— -- Country music star Blake Shelton couldn't escape his personal drama when he was honored with the CMT Artist of the Year Award in a special network ceremony in Nashville Wednesday night.

Shelton's love life has been a constant in the headlines thanks to his July divorce from fellow country singer Miranda Lambert and his recent romance with Gwen Stefani, a fellow coach on "The Voice."

When Trace Adkins introduced Shelton with the honor, he made a jab of his own.

"I've known Blake personally and professionally for 15 years or so. And his rise to fame has really been incredible to watch. He has been named the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year five times. He has had four albums reach the top of the chart, 15 No. 1 singles in a row," Adkins began.

"On top of all that, he has still got his day job on 'The Voice.' Not a whole lot this guy can't do, other that keep his love life private," Adkins quipped.

Shelton took a more demure approach when accepting his award.

"This is awesome," he said to the crowd. "I've never gotten one of these from CMT before and been jealous over the last few years. First of all, thank you to CMT for including me on this. So cool."

The Grammy Award-nominee added, "So let me just say that I want to thank my label and thank my entire team. There's too many people to stand up here and name, but more importantly, I want to say that this has been a crazy year, from the way it started to how it's ending so awesome for me. So thank y'all. This is a great way to end it for me. Thank you so much."

Interestingly enough, Shelton's ex-wife Lambert won the Artist of the Year Award last year. In her acceptance speech, she said: "My husband, I always forget to thank him, but he's my rock – Blake Shelton."

Others honored this year with the Artist of the Year title included Luke Bryan, Little Big Town, Sam Hunt and Florida Georgia Line. Also, Kenny Rogers was given the honor of Artist of a Lifetime.