Checking in with KELSEA BALLERINI
It’s been a big decade for Kelsea Ballerini since she launched her professional career, and she’s marking it in a big and appropriate way.
The Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Award-winning star returns for the fourth consecutive year — going solo in the job this time — as host of the CMT Music Awards, which CBS and Paramount+ present Sunday, April 7, from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. No stranger to such events in recent years, either to preside over the given occasion or perform at it (or both), Ballerini is nominated for three of the honors herself: video of the year and CMT performance of the year, both for “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too),” as well as female video of the year for “Penthouse.”
Ballerini began performing very early, taking up dancing when she was 3 years old and starting to write songs at age 12. She made a record label deal at 19, and it didn’t take long for her to make CMT’S Next Women of Country list after she issued her first single, “Love Me Like You Mean It.” The tune went to the top of Billboard Magazine’s country chart, making her only the 11th solo female country artist to accomplish that with her debut single. She then made history again by also hitting No. 1 with her followup single, “Dibs.”
The fast-rising status Ballerini attained in the music world got added confirmation when she joined NBC’S “The Voice” for its 15th season in 2018, as she was made a fifth coach — the first time the contest had added such a slot — and returned to the show during Season 20 in 2021. A few months later, Ballerini was inducted by Carrie
Underwood as a member of the legendary Grand Ole Opry, and she went on from that to stage her successful Miss Me More Tour in 2019. She also headlined her Heartfirst Tour in 2022-23, and she has toured with such other acts as Keith Urban (“Blue Ain’t Your Color”), Kelly Clarkson (“Stronger”) and Kenny Chesney (“When The Sun Goes Down”).
Ballerini’s popularity and fame have only grown with time, and her being given this year’s CMT Music Awards to front on her own is definite proof of that.
Birthdate: Sept. 12, 1993
Birthplace: Mascot, Tenn.
Current residence: Nashville, Tenn.
Marital status: Divorced
Other television credits include: “CMA Fest,” “Superfan,” “The Voice,” “Nashville,” “Saturday Night Live,” “CMA Storytellers: Kelsea Ballerini,” “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash,” “The Judds: Love Is Alive – The Final Concert,” “The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “Mickey’s 90th Anniversary,” “CMA Country Christmas,” “CMT Artists of the Year,” “Project Runway,” “Stayin’ Alive: A Grammy Salute to the Music of the Bee Gees,” “Country Heat Weekly” (voice only), “The Academy of Country Music: ACM Sessions,” “The National Christmas Tree Lighting”
Her studio albums include: “The First Time,” “Unapologetically,” “Kelsea,” “Subject to Change”
Her singles include: “Love Me Like You Mean It,” “Dibs,” “Peter Pan,” “Yeah Boy,” “Legends,” “I Hate Love Songs,” “Miss Me More,” “Homecoming Queen?.”