3 of the Best Kelsea Ballerini Live Performances

As Kelsea Ballerini gears up to embark on a lengthy U.S. tour, we thought it apt to look back at some of her best live performances to date. Ballerini shines particularly on a ballad, so we’ve chosen three separate somber performances to revisit. Find them, below.

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3 of the Best Kelsea Ballerini Live Performances

1. “Penthouse” at CMA Fest (2024)

Ballerini took the stage at Nissan Stadium for CMA Fest in 2024. She brought along a host of her biggest hits and this ballad about faking love in a relationship. “Penthouse” is one of Ballerini’s most tender songs. She recalls going through the motions in her marriage and its bitter end. She employs a proper amount of emotion in the performance, below.

We played the part five nights
But we were never there on the weekends, baby
We got along real nice
But when I left town, did you hate me?
One day, the curtain started coming down
I changed the second we were moving out
I guess wrong can look alright
When you’re playing home in a penthouse, baby

2. “Peter Pan” on CMT Storytellers (2015)

Flashing back to 2015, we have this performance of “Peter Pan” from CMT Storytellers. Ballerini used the familiar fairytale to dissect a former partner’s inability to stick around. Like the tight-wearing lost boy from Neverland, Ballerini’s Peter flies away and fails to face reality. Ballerini’s vocals cut right to the heart here.

Always gonna fly away, just because you know you can
You’re never gonna learn there’s no such place as a Neverland
You don’t understand
You’ll never grow up
You’re never gonna be a man
Peter Pan

3. “Two Things” at the People’s Choice Country Awards (2024)

At the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards, Ballerini brought out a song from her recently released album, Patterns. “Two Things” sees Ballerini reckon with the end of a relationship. While on one hand there is hatred for the other person, there is still some love leftover. It’s a poignant message of mixed emotions. She lets her vocals fly freely in the performance, below. The audience was likely left in awe of her stunning delivery of this song.

Two things can be true
I’ll love and hate you
I’ll be your best and your worst day
I’ll be your blessin’ and curse, babe, yeah
Sometimes I’ll cut and ghost
But sometimes I’ll get too close
You’re nothin’ and everything I got to lose
Two things can be true

Taylor Hill/WireImage