Kelsea Ballerini isn’t crushed by her lack of GRAMMY Awards. Though the country darling has been nominated for five GRAMMYs, she’s never taken home a gramophone.
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“I don’t win things. I don’t. And I’m cool with it,” Ballerini told SiriusXM’s Fierce: Women in Music in January. “There are certain things that used to really make me cry myself to sleep. One is when people said I wasn’t country. And two is losing awards. Now I’ve changed my relationship with all of it.”
Ballerini was first nominated in 2017 for Best New Artist. Her album Unapologetically earned her a Best Country Album nod two years later. Then, in 2023, Ballerini was nominated again, this time for her song “Heartfirst” in the Best Country Solo Performance Category. The following year, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat earned her another Best Country Album nomination.
She was most recently nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Cowboys Cry Too,” her collaboration with Noah Kahan.
Throughout her career, Ballerini has won two ACM Awards, two CMA Awards, and one CMT Music Award, though she’s been nominated many more times than that at all three shows.
“If you get nominated, that means that sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get three-and-a-half minutes to sing on a show like the CMAs or the ACMs or the CMTs. And that’s an award. That’s an award,” she said. “Once I rewired my brain to think like that, I’m so ecstatic to show up and perform most of the time, some of the time, and then watch a friend have a good moment. I’m good with it.”
Kelsea Ballerini’s Busy Year
Though she may not have walked away with any awards recently, Ballerini’s career is only getting bigger. The singer released her latest LP, Patterns, in Oct. 2024 and dropped a deluxe edition earlier this month.
Additionally, Ballerini is currently on her first headlining arena tour ever, which has been selling out shows across the country.
All of that is going on amid Ballerini’s debut season as a coach on The Voice. She’s starring on the show alongside Adam Levine, Michael Bublé, and John Legend.
The Voice airs Mondays on NBC at 8/7.
Photo by Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images
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