I don’t remember the first time I met Kelsea Ballerini—not because she isn’t memorable. Kelsea is the type of person so purely lovely and genuine in her authenticity that after you meet her, you feel like you’ve known her your entire life.
Kelsea and I grew up about 30 miles from each other. She is from Knoxville, Tennessee, and I’m from Sevierville, but I haven’t known her forever.
Regardless, when I saw her headline Bridgestone Arena Friday night for the first time, there was a feeling of pride this young woman I’ve interviewed for the last decade. She finally fought her way to the arena-headlining status she so richly deserves.
The show was the kind of sold-out that prompted the ticket office to post notices on the windows that stated there were no tickets left, and none would be released. Sometimes, when an artist says a show is sold out, it means there aren’t two seats available together. Kelsea’s sold-out meant, “There’s no room. Seriously, don’t ask.”
She could hardly believe it.
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Kelsea Ballerini: “I’m Going to Freak Out”
“I don’t even know where to start,” Kelsea told her cheering audience. Cheering doesn’t quite do the noise level justice. I remember seeing Taylor Swift on her first arena tour – and this crowd reaction was that level of obsession. “I could tell you my 10-year-town journey started 10 years ago when I released ‘Love Me Like You Mean It.’ I could tell you that getting here started 16 years ago when I moved to Nashville. I could tell you that tonight started when I was 12 when I wrote my first song. I don’t know where it started to end up here tonight. But I can’t believe we’re at a sold-out night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. One thing about me is I’m not going to play it cool at all. I’m going to freak out alongside you all evening.”
While Kelsea’s debut single “Love Me Like You Mean It” did top the country radio airplay charts, it didn’t immediately catapult her from anonymity into a household name. Kelsea has patiently clawed her way to the top with heartfelt ballads, catchy bops, soul-stirring anthems and a transparency, which makes everyone who meets her feel like they’re best friends. Fans adored her, but it took time for the entertainment industry to catch on. When Kelsea released her achingly vulnerable Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP in 2023 following her divorce, the music world discovered what her fans and friends have known for years – Kelsea Ballerini is a force. The EP earned a Grammy nomination for Country Album of the Year, gave her new confidence, and changed her career.
Kelsea Ballerini Debuts as a Voice Coach Feb. 3
Kelsea launched her 36-city, three-month arena tour in January. She headlined Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Friday night. She attended the Grammy Awards Sunday. Monday will make her debut as a coach on “The Voice” on Monday. The show’s Season 27 Premiere with Kelsea and her fellow coaches, Adam Levine, Michael Buble, and John Legend, is Monday, February 3, 8/7c, NBC.
“I took this last year off the road because I needed to live a life to write about to make a record called Patterns,” Ballerini said. She released her new album Patterns in October. “I needed to find some balance in my life. I needed to enjoy turning 30 and really feel it. I wanted to have the space in my life as a newfound adult to figure out, ‘What else?’ I think the most powerful question you can ask yourself in your life is, ‘I’m happy. I’m centered. I’m allowed to ask myself what else.’ That led to a show called ‘The Voice.’ Tune in if you want.”
Kelsea’s show was a dramatic, high-energy celebration of love, friendship, and women supporting women. The technology was cutting-edge to the point that when you videoed on your phone, the elements on her screens appeared to be in 3D. There was fire. There was confetti. There was a merry-go-round on a flying platform. There was also glitter, sequins, short skirts, high heels, and 13,000-ish people (that’s an educated guess) having the best night of their lives. But the show wasn’t about the window dressing – it was about the woman on stage, her roster of hits, and the safe space she’s meticulously built for everyone.
There was a Stupid Surprise
Kelsea sang what everyone expected her to sing—a mix of songs from all of her albums. She opened with “Patterns” and “Baggage.” Then, after greeting the crowd, she slid into her reimagined version of “Love Me Like You Mean It.” Throughout the night, “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” “hole in the bottle,” “Blindsided, “Miss Me More,” “We Broke Up,” “Peter Pan” and “Mountain with a View” were among the highlights.
Then came the stupid surprise. Kelsea said she fully intended to play the same setlist every night on the East Coast leg of the tour because she “likes a plan.” However, there have been reasons to change her mind. Friday night, she wanted to paint a picture for the audience of that reason.
“I remember I was probably 12 or 13, and my mom and I are living on Fulton Drive in Knoxville, Tennessee,” she said. “I’m upstairs in my attic bedroom that I had painted dark purple. I’m on my laptop. I was on MySpace. And there was this song called ‘Stupid Boy’ by Keith Urban. I had a visceral reaction to it that made me go, ‘Oh my God, I want to be a songwriter. I want to do exactly what this song makes me feel – that’s what I want to do with my life.”
By this point, fans have figured out that Keith Urban is probably in the arena—and the room roared with excitement. Keith strolled out, up the catwalk to meet Kelsea, and the pair dueted on “Stupid Boy.”
Kelsea-Freakin’-Ballerini
“Kelsea-freakin’-Ballerini,” Keith yelled to the crowd at the song’s end. He hugged Kelsea and walked off the stage.
True to form, Kelsea took that moment to tell fans that someone felt the paper in the toe of her boot, and she sat down on the stage, took off her boot, pulled the paper out, and showed it to fans. Things like that are truly why people love her.
Kelsea ended the show with an encore of “Penthouse.”
In 2018, she headlined Ryman Auditorium on her Unapologetically Tour. She told her team: “I’m not going to do another headlining show in Nashville until I can sell out Bridgestone Arena. And I kept my word. Tonight is my first headlining show in Nashville since then. If you hear one thing out of my mouth tonight, it’s ‘Thank you.’”
Kelsea is the person who sees you in the supermarket and speaks first. She’s the one who listens and compares notes when your relationship falls apart. She’s also the one who raises her eyebrow when you introduce her to your new (possibly ill-chosen) love interest six months later. And, she’s thankfully the one demonstrating to you and your daughters that you can be smart, funny, kind, vulnerable, honest, successful, in love—and still take no shit.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for KB)
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