Details You Didn't Know About Kelsea Ballerini
The 55th Academy of Country Music Awards are set to take place on Sept. 16, 2020, from Nashville, Tenn., per CBS. The awards ceremony will be hosted by ACM winner and husband to Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban. The list of performers is equally as exciting. Tim McGraw will perform, as well as Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett, Dan + Shay, Luke Combs, Kelsea Ballerini and many others.
The performances will be broadcast live from three different venues: the Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe. Ballerini will be performing her hit "Hole in the Bottle" at the Ryman. 2020 is a big year for Ballerini at the ACM Awards. Not only is she performing, but she's also been nominated for Female Artist of the Year along with Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves, and Carrie Underwood, according to Rolling Stone. That is some stiff competition!
In honor of the nomination, here are details you might not have known about Kelsea Ballerini.
Kelsea Ballerini's creative mastery of re-imagining her own songs
Kelsea Ballerini knows how to set some records. According to her official website, Ballerini was the first female country star to "reach #1 with her first three consecutive singles." As of this writing, in addition to being the "Grand Ole Opry's youngest current member," she's bagged two Grammy Award nominations, as well as two ACM wins. She also got the iHeartRadio Music Awards honor for "Best New Artist." Phew!
Ballerini is skilled at connecting with her fans on social media, too. She has millions of followers on Instagram and regularly posts about her music and personal life, not to mention a selfie with Shania Twain. Does it get more epic than that?
One of the musical features that makes Ballerini so intriguing is the way she reworks her songs. Her album Kelsea, which dropped in March 2020, grapples with stardom — both publicly and online. She admitted to Rolling Stone that therapy helped her write the album, looking at the desire to "fill the void." It's powerful stuff.
She then surprised fans by dropping a second album in 2020 called Ballerini, released on Sept. 11, 2020, which is essentially a "stripped-down" version of her earlier album, Kelsea. According to a later article by Rolling Stone, she "removes the polish and production of the original version" with the aim of giving listeners more intimate access to her writing and voice.
It seems like her professional life is going pretty well, but what is life like for Ballerini at home, behind the scenes?
Kelsea Ballerini married a 'proper gentleman'
As it turns out, Kelsea Ballerini married another country singer. And who said opposites attract? Ballerini said "I do" to Australian country star Morgan Evans in December 2017, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, per People.
According to the outlet, they met in March 2016 when "they cohosted an award show in [Evans'] native Australia." The after party was reportedly where things really took off. Ballerini shared with People: "[Evans] was like, 'Let's take a shot.' I remember taking that shot and putting it down and looking at him like, 'Oh ... he's superhot.'" She added: "Later that night he leaned over and asked if he could kiss me, like a proper gentleman, and I said yes."
According to Country Living, Evans proposed to Ballerini later that year and then joined her in Nashville, Tenn., to be closer to her.
In a later interview with People, Ballerini spoke about having love and support from someone who understands her life. "With our careers, we get to do what we love, then we get to find time to be with who we love. I think that makes for a really full life — when you can do everything that you want, and then share it with someone." We love it!