Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini slipped between country and pop with ease during the latter half of the 2010s, then abandoned those boundaries entirely once the next decade arrived. Three consecutive Billboard Country Airplay number ones arrived immediately—"Love Me Like You Mean It," "Dibs," and "Peter Pan"—between 2014 and 2016, giving her an adaptable platform that later absorbed outside influences without resistance. In 2018 she lent her voice to the Chainsmokers’ “This Feeling,” and in 2020 she shared the single “The Other Girl” with Halsey from the album Kelsea; the following year she joined LANY for “I Quit Drinking.” These moves outside traditional country lines did not erase her origins, which resurfaced clearly on the 2022 release Subject to Change, but instead highlighted the adaptable, contemporary character of her sound. In 2024 she reached the top of the Country Albums chart with Patterns, whose track “Cowboys Cry Too” features Noah Kahan.

She began composing songs at thirteen, picked up the guitar at fourteen, and relocated to Nashville at fifteen with the goal of turning songwriting and performing into a profession. At nineteen she secured a publishing agreement with Black River Publishing and, later the same year, a recording contract with Black River Entertainment. The label issued her first single, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” in 2014; the song climbed to number five on Billboard’s country singles chart and number one on its country airplay chart. A self-titled digital EP followed in November 2014. Recognition grew quickly: CMT named her one of the 2014 Next Women of Country, and she made her Grand Ole Opry debut on February 13, 2015.

Black River released her debut album, The First Time, in May 2015; it entered the Billboard country chart at number four and the Billboard 200 at number 31, later earning gold certification. She received a Best New Artist nomination for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards the next year. “Legends,” the opening single from her second album, appeared in June 2017, with Unapologetically arriving that November. The set reached number seven on the Billboard 200 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Country Album. A deluxe edition issued the following year added four songs, among them the single “Fun & Games.” In 2019 she appeared on Thomas Rhett’s “Center Point Road” and released “Homecoming Queen?,” the lead track from her third album, Kelsea, which came out in March 2020 and debuted at number two on the Country chart and number 12 on the Billboard 200. That project also yielded the single “Half of My Hometown” featuring Kenny Chesney. Later in 2020 she issued Ballerini, a collection of stripped-down re-recordings. She collaborated again with LANY on the 2021 single “I Quit Drinking,” then returned in 2022 with “Heartfirst,” the first release from Subject to Change, issued that September.

Shortly before Subject to Change arrived, Ballerini and her husband Morgan Evans announced their divorce. She addressed the separation on the surprise EP Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, released on Valentine’s Day 2023, and she also wrote and directed a short film of the same name, performed on Saturday Night Live, and earned another Grammy nomination for Best Country Album. In June 2024 she joined the coaching panel of The Voice for its twenty-seventh season. That October she released her fifth studio album, Patterns, produced by Alysa Vanderheym. Working alongside Vanderheym, Ballerini assembled an all-female team of songwriters that included Jessie Jo Dillon, Karen Fairchild, and Hillary Lindsey. Led by the single “Cowboys Cry Too” with Noah Kahan, Patterns topped the Country Albums chart and reached number four on the Billboard 200.