Country music is all about storytelling, and sometimes, that means throwing shade at an ex. And if one song doesn’t do it, why not write a whole album? Here are some country artists who confirmed their projects were about their exes, if it wasn’t already obvious.
Videos by American Songwriter
‘Rolling Up The Welcome Mat’ by Kelsea Ballerini
On Valentine’s Day in 2023, Kelsea Ballerini released her Rolling Up The Welcome Mat EP. The project reflects on her relationship with and divorce from singer Morgan Evans. She later released the full-length album in August of that year. In an episode of Call Her Daddy titled “Divorced at 29”, Kelsea Ballerini dives into the details of her relationship. In the beginning of the episode, Alex congratulates her and says, “I think it’s obvious what it’s about.” The two then discuss everything, from how Ballerini and Evans met to the aftermath of the divorce. Ballerini also confirms that her song, “Blindsided”, is about Evans’ reaction to the divorce. She admits this with the lyrics, “The truth is hard to hear, but it’s not hard to find / Were you blindsided or were you just blind.”
’29: Written In Stone’ by Carly Pearce
Similar to Ballerini, Carly Pearce got divorced at 29 and wrote and released an entire album. 29: Written In Stone is about her relationship with Michael Ray, whom she married and divorced in the same year. I guess there’s something to be said for healing through song. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Pearce shared that she didn’t tell Ray about the album before releasing it. “I think that he probably knew that I was going to write about my life because that’s just who I am,” she explained.
‘star-crossed’ by Kasey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves and singer Ruston Kelley were married from 2017 to 2020. In her album star-crossed, Musgraves sings about a relationship where she “signed the papers yesterday / You went your way, I went mine.” In a 2021 interview with Elle, Musgraves also confirmed that the album was about her marriage.
“It’s daunting to put your emotions about something really personal on display. I haven’t spoken much about this chapter, and I don’t feel like I owe that to anyone, but I owe it to myself as a creator to flesh out all these emotions that I’ve felt.”
She continued, talking about Kelley, “‘I’m about to share my most personal thoughts about me, about this other person, about a union that I had with someone.’”
Photo by: Kevin Mazur/Kevin MazurGetty Images for SiriusXM
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