Since 1985, People has named their Sexiest Man Alive once a year, but among the 33 men who have received the title, only two have been musicians. Coincidentally — or, maybe not — both of these musicians, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, are both coaches on NBC’s hit show The Voice.
When Levine was named Sexiest Man Alive in 2013, he was also the second non-actor to receive the award, after John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1988. David Beckham became the third non-actor when the retired soccer star received the aesthetic honor in 2015, which makes Shelton the fourth non-actor to be honored.
While Levine and Shelton are the only two career-musicians to win the award, a few more of the sexiest men named by People have had loose ties to the music industry. Keanu Reeves, who was named the 1994 honoree, had played bass for bands Dogstar and Becky. 2008 winner Hugh Jackman made his musical talents quite clear four years after his People cover, when he took his voice from stage to screen as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. Johnny Depp, who won in 2009, was the Tim Burton idealization of Sweeney Todd in the film version of the classic musical, as well as performing a minor role in Into The Woods. Depp also has a lengthy discography from playing guitar on a number of massive artists’ tracks, from Oasis’ “Fade In-Out” to Marilyn Manson’s “You’re So Vain” cover. And last year’s Sexiest Man Alive, Dwayne Johnson, landed his first Billboard Hot 100 hit this year for his Moana track, “You’re Welcome.”
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Shelton has yet to take the honor too seriously, trolling himself for taking the title. Since the announcement, he’s tweeted a series of “sexy tweets,” beginning with, “Thank you @people!!!! Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful…” He pointed out in the cover story that he didn’t necessarily fit the grand title, explaining he believed, “That y’all must be running out of people. Like, wow, we’re down to somebody who is somewhat symmetrical.”
Shelton and Levine have yet to come face-to-face since the country star’s Sexiest Man Alive announcement, but considering their series-long friendly feud on The Voice, surely there will be some playful mention on next week’s episode.