Kelsea Ballerini

From Knoxville to the top of country radio

Kelsea Nicole Ballerini was born on September 12, 1993 in Mascot, Tennessee, was raised in Knoxville and moved to Nashville about three years after writing her first song at 12. She studied for two years at Lipscomb University and signed a publishing deal with Black River Entertainment at 19. A self-titled EP in November 2014 made her a CMT Next Women of Country artist, and her debut single "Love Me Like You Mean It" reached number 1 on Country Airplay in July 2015, followed by "Dibs"; "Peter Pan" (2016) reached number 1 on Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs at the same time. The debut album The First Time came out on May 19, 2015. She won the ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year in 2016 and was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy in 2017.

Unapologetically (November 3, 2017) became the highest-charting album of her career, at 7 on the Billboard 200 and 3 on Top Country Albums. She was the fifth coach on The Voice season 15 in 2018, and later albums are Kelsea and Ballerini (both 2020), Subject to Change (September 23, 2022) and Patterns (October 25, 2024), with the EPs Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (2023), which Billboard ranked 19th among 2023 albums, and Mount Pleasant (November 14, 2025). Her poetry book Feel Your Way Through came out in 2021, and she made her acting debut in ABC's Doctor Odyssey in 2024. With Kenny Chesney she won the 2021 CMA awards for Musical Event and Video of the Year for "Half of My Hometown". She played Saturday Night Live as musical guest in 2023. Setlist.fm lists about 476 setlists, including Madison Square Garden on October 29, 2024. Her headline tours include The First Time Tour (2016), Miss Me More (2019), Heartfirst (2022 to 2023) and Live on Tour (2025).