Luke Bryan says he was recognized by a fan who thought he was Blake Shelton

Georgia native Luke Bryan has become a household name between his music and judging spot on American Idol.

It only makes sense that fans frequently stop him in public and ask him for a photo or an autograph. But he had a much rarer fan encounter recently: Someone stopped him thinking he was a completely different country star.

Bryan explained how it all went down in a social media video, saying that he and his son Tate were fishing when they stopped at a gas station. "This kinda big guy, tatted up, he's just staring me down. I'm like, 'Oh yeah, he recognizes me,'" the singer says.

But when he approached Bryan, the man said something surprising: "He goes, 'Man, you look just like Blake Shelton.'"

He missed the mark — but it's not the most left-field mistake the guy could have made. Shelton and Bryan are both top-tier country stars. They're also often seen together at awards shows and events, and they've both spent time as judges on popular singing shows.

"He said, 'You're not Blake Shelton, are you?'"

"I said, 'I'm not Blake Shelton.' He said, 'You gotta get that all the time.'"

Of course, Bryan does have some inkling of what it's like to be as rich as Shelton. According to Billboard Boxscore data released in spring 2024, Bryan is at the No. 3 spot on a list of 20 Top-Grossing Country Artists of all time (and oddly enough, Shelton isn't in the Top 20 on this list at all).

My favorite comment to his Instagram post came from wife Caroline, who chimed in in the comments section to say, "I never get called Gwen ...," referring to Shelton's superstar wife Gwen Stefani.