Watch Gwen Stefani's son make his musical debut at Blake Shelton's Oklahoma bar

Given boss man Blake Shelton's superstar status, it's hardly a surprise that his chain of Ole Red entertainment venues primarily showcases country music acts.

But the Oklahoma native made an exception Friday night at his Ole Red Tishomingo for a special guest artist making his debut: Kingston Rossdale, his oldest stepson.

"I'm actually honored to be the first one to introduce this guy to the stage for the very first time. ... First and foremost, this guy is an artist. He's the real deal, and you guys are gonna be able to say that you were there at his very first ever public performance," Shelton said at the Aug. 11 concert.

"This dude is rock. I don't just mean he rocks; his music is rock. I think we've got some rock fans out here, probably."

The eldest of son of pop icon Gwen Stefani and rocker Gavin Rossdale, Kingston, 17, played a series of original songs Friday night inside The Doghouse music hall at Ole Red Tishomingo. An encouraging Oklahoma audience of about 400 music lovers witnessed his debut, said concertgoer Jamie McGaugh, a devoted Shelton fan from Coalgate.

"That's quite a few people for your first time. ... He had to be nervous," McGaugh told The Oklahoman the day after Kingston's debut. "He did great. He was really cute. He had really good stage presence, and he worked the crowd."

Why did teen rocker Kingston Rossdale find a small Oklahoma town a fitting place to perform his first concert?

An Ada native, Shelton, 47, made Tishomingo his adopted hometown several years ago, and he opened his first Ole Red bar, restaurant and music venue in the Johnston County seat in 2017.

Shelton and Stefani, 53, live on the sprawling Ten Point Ranch near Tishomingo; the celebrity couple wed in a specially built chapel on the rural Oklahoma spread on July 3, 2021.

Before the wedding, though, the couple, along with several members of Stefani's family, quarantined together on the ranch during the COVID-19 pandemic. That included Stefani's three sons from her previous marriage to Bush frontman Rossdale: Kingston; Zuma, now 14; and Apollo, who is 9.

"In 2020, when the world shut down completely ... I was in Oklahoma. Tishomingo, it's a great place. I met my people here. I got to be outdoors, and I learned guitar," Kingston told the audience at his Ole Red show.

Since he first learned to make music in Tishomingo, Kingston said he thought the small town would be a fitting place to make his musical debut.

"Although I'm not super country — anywhere near it; I'm sorry — I learned it in the country. So, let's connect a little bit more," Kingston tells the crowd in a video of his concert posted to social media.

How did Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani react to her son's musical debut?

The teenager opened his debut set with a brokenhearted ballad, and he strummed an acoustic guitar for his second song, an angsty alternative-rock ode. In between crooning a few more tunes, Kingston thanked the audience for coming and told them, "I love you guys."

As he exited the stage, the first-time performer was met by a smiling Shelton, who shook his stepson's hand, hugged him and patted him on the back.

"I mean, I'm not gonna let him close the show. I'm still in competition mode a little bit," Shelton quipped as he settled on a stool with his guitar. "I was trying to think, like, 'How do you follow that?'"

The eight-time Grammy nominee opted to strum the familiar opening to "Don't Speak," the 1990s pop smash for his wife's former rock band No Doubt, which was Stefani's cue to stroll out and sing the iconic ballad.

The superstar couple performed their chart-topping country duets "Nobody But You" and "Happy Anywhere" to close the show.

"You guys, I'm sure a lot of you can imagine how stressful this night has been for Gwen," Shelton told the crowd. "Seriously, give it up for Kingston Rossdale. We knew what a great artist he is; we had no idea what kind of live performer he would be. I thought that was incredible."

Stefani thanked the audience, smilingly crossed herself, looked toward the heavens in an expression of gratitude, applauded her son and made a heart with her fingers.

"Blake knows how the crowd is there and how welcoming they would be. No matter what, they would have been a great crowd for Kingston. So, I feel like that's why they had it in Tishomingo," said McGaugh, the Coalgate fan who provided The Oklahoman with photos and videos she took of the concert.

How did Blake Shelton draw a crowd for his stepson's debut performance?

On X, formerly Twitter, Shelton posted on Aug. 8 that he was thinking to "just maybe play a few songs" at Ole Red Tishomingo later in the week. He's known to occasionally perform at his bar in his adopted hometown.

The country star followed up on Aug. 9 with his intentions to take the stage at The Doghouse Friday night and "play 30 minutes or so acoustically. Then I’m gonna turn the stage over to a debut artist that will be doing their VERY FIRST public performance!"

On Aug. 10, Shelton posted a last-minute plan to perform at Ole Red Tishomingo that evening in addition to the Aug. 11 show.

Although McGaugh and her mother, Lanell Eclair, also of Coalgate, tried to make it to Tishomingo in time, they missed Shelton's Thursday night set. But they encountered Stefani outside Ole Red Tishomingo and got to pose for a photo with the pop star.

The mother-and-daughter music fans lined up at 11:30 a.m. Friday to secure a spot in The Doghouse to hear Shelton and the mystery artist.

"They said people started getting there at about 9 a.m.," McGaugh said. "Even in the 110-degree heat ... we were still having a good time. There's not many people that we would do that for, but Blake is one of them that we will sit out in the heat for."

Who else played Blake Shelton's Ole Red Tishomingo Friday night?

McGaugh said doors opened for the waiting fans at about 3 p.m. Friday, with Ada singer-songwriter and "The Voice" Season 23 contestant Emily Rhyne entertaining the crowd from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

As promised, Shelton took the stage for his acoustic set at about 7:30 p.m.

He played his hits and fan favorites like "God's Country," "Honey Bee," "Sangria," "Playboys of the Southwestern World," "Boys 'Round Here," "Austin" and, of course, "Ol' Red," before turning over the stage to Kingston.

"I was surprised that it was him ... but some people had already figured it out," McGaugh said. "But we were very excited that we got to be there to see it."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Watch: Gwen Stefani's son performs at Blake Shelton's Oklahoma bar