Kelsea Ballerini is nominated for two CMA awards this year for Best Female Artist and Musical Event, but she had no qualms talking about the nominees for Entertainer of the Year. She recently gave an unbiased look at who should win while speaking with Taste of Country.
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The nominees this year are Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, and reigning champion Lainey Wilson. Ballerini first gushed about Stapleton and his artistry.
“I saw Stapleton, and he just can’t be touched, he’s just the best. But I’m talking vocally,” she said. “I’m talking vocally.” She then explained that, for her, the Entertainer of the Year should be someone visible, engaging, and ideally currently touring. Someone in the public eye when the awards are going on.
“If we’re talking entertainer, to me, Entertainer of the Year is someone who is touring, is the most visible, being everywhere, showing up for the genre,” she said. “And if we’re looking at that, it’s Lainey [Wilson].”
Lainey Wilson has definitely been showing up. She recently dropped her new album, Whirlwind, and has been on her Country’s Cool Again Tour since May. She’ll be hitting the U.S. again in November and December. Then, she’ll take a break before heading overseas in March 2025 for a European summer run. Additionally, she’ll be performing at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Halftime Show and has partnered with the Salvation Army.
[RELATED: How Kelsea Ballerini’s New Album Was Inspired by Her Boyfriend’s Support]
How Kelsea Ballerini’s New Album was Inspired by Her Boyfriend’s Support
Kelsea Ballerini is releasing her newest album, Patterns, on October 25, and she recently spoke about how the album was inspired and supported by her boyfriend of almost two years, actor Chase Stokes.
“He’s been such a big, beautiful part of my life for almost two years now,” Ballerini told People earlier this month. “I’m really proud of the art that he’s inspired,” she continued, adding, “And I’m really proud to be with someone who’s a truth-teller in his own art too. And to be aligned in that way and to share parts of our relationship and that kind of stuff, so openly and willingly, is really beautiful.”
Ballerini also shared that she came to Stokes with her newest opportunity—a guest spot on the new ABC drama Doctor Odyssey. She explained that acting was always “his world,” as she called it, “so whenever I was asking him questions about this opportunity, I was like, ‘What about this in your world?’”
Stokes was supportive of Ballerini branching out into the acting world, and she said he agreed to run scenes with her. She noted, “He was like, ‘Hey, it’s just a world. I’m a part of it and now you’re a part of it. It’s not my world.’” That support of her creative endeavors clearly helped her when crafting her fifth album.
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