Kelsea Ballerini – an award winning country music artist – has exploded with popularity recently with her new EP, “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.” Ballerini has since performed on “Saturday Night Live” and hosted the CMT Awards. However, along with her musical popularity has come heartache and new chapters for Ballerini, due to her recent divorce. Even through this difficult time though, Ballerini has been able to create a new life for herself and capture the audience with her raw new music.
The Beginning of Her Career
Ballerini grew up in Tennessee where she began her country music journey. She was an only child with divorced parent – which heavily impacted her when she decided to mary her fellow country artist, Morgan Evans, at 24. On the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper, Ballerini got candid about how her parents impacted her early marriage, “I think, I got married because of my parents. I think I got divorced because of me.”
Because of the emotions she felt from her parents split, Ballerini began writing songs throughout her upbringing. She released her first album in 2015, “The First Time,” a poppy-country album that began Ballerini’s career. Since then, Ballerini has been a country sensation, releasing hit songs like “Miss Me More” and “hole in the bottle (with Shania Twain).”
Divorce from Morgan Evans
In 2022, after almost five years of marriage, Ballerini and Evans called it quits. Ballerini explained how busy their lives were, and how it felt like he wasn’t there for her when she needed him. Shortly after the split, Evans released his song “Over For You,” which accuses Ballerini of being the reason for the divorce. In the song, Evans sings “How many times did you say you loved me / when it wasn’t true.”
In her Call Her Daddy interview, Ballerini talked about how hurtful the song was for her. She also explained how when her and Evans had last talked it seemed to end on good terms. However, the divorce later became ugly, especially after “Over For You” was released.
Finding Love Again
After her divorce, there was speculation that Ballerini and Chase Stokes, who plays John B in the Netflix series “Outer Banks,” were together, and soon after Stokes confirmed it on Instagram. The two have been together since December 2022, and were spotted at the CMT awards, on tour with Kenny Chesney and on their Instagrams. The two seem to be having fun together, and express their admiration for each other and each other’s work through their social media accounts.
Music Post-Divorce
On Feb. 14, 2023, Ballerini released “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat,” chronicling her divorce and what she has been feeling since. The raw country EP shows Ballerini’s vulnerability throughout the process of deciding to divorce Evans as well as the strange feeling of not being with him anymore. Ballerini’s heart-wrenching lyrics like “I kissed someone new last night / But now I don’t know where you’re sleeping, baby” from her song “Penthouse” is what makes this EP unlike any of her previous music.
Ballerini has been performing her past songs along with her new EP on tour with Chesney, who she opens for. Fans have been loving her new music, which can be seen all over social media. Ballerini also has been on her own tour, titled the HEARTFIRST Tour.
The CMT Awards
In Austin, Texas, Ballerini hosted the CMT Awards as well as performed her song “IF YOU GO DOWN (I’M GOIN’ DOWN TOO).” Ballerini performed with drag queens Kennedy Davenport, Manila Luzon, Jan Sport and Olivia Lux. The performance highlighted inclusivity, especially since the pass of Senate Bill 3 and House Bill 9 in Tennessee – the heartland of country music – banning drag performances in areas where children may be.
What do you think of Kelsea Ballerini and her new “era”? Let us know by tweeting us, @VALLEYmag, on Twitter!
