And even though Ballerini has always seemed on the verge of crossing over from the country music bubble (she’s scored several Grammy nominations, done multiple stints on NBC’s “The Voice” and collaborated with pop artists from the Chainsmokers to Halsey to Kelly Clarkson) she’s never really had that big breakout moment into the mainstream.
Until now. Fittingly, it coincides with her debut appearance on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, a traditional marker of mainstream success. So how did we get here?
On Valentine’s Day, Ballerini, 29, released an emotional, extremely candid six-song EP and short film about her recent divorce from fellow country singer Morgan Evans, 37. The lyrics stunned many in Nashville, but not as much as an astonishingly detailed tell-all interview that coincided with the release.
For a while after their August split, it seemed like things would play out like plenty of other country breakups. Both Ballerini and Evans posted measured statements announcing the divorce on their social media accounts and released music tackling the subject in tasteful ways. While Ballerini insisted her album “Subject to Change” was not a divorce album, Evans debuted an unusually personal, mournful ballad called “Over For You.” Though he didn’t elaborate, he made it clear the divorce was not his idea, singing: “How many times did you say you loved me when it wasn’t true? I’m just wondering, how long has it been over for you? … What do you tell your parents? What do you tell yourself? Was it something I was missing, or is there someone else?”
Ballerini stayed mostly quiet until sudden drop of “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat” on Feb. 14, a collection of songs that offer an almost uncomfortably straightforward explanation of her view of what went wrong.
“Mountain With a View” directly answers Evans about when it was over for her: “I’m wearing the ring still, but I think I’m lying, sometimes you forget yours, I think we’re done trying,” she sings, referencing her age when they got engaged in 2016: “I realize you loved me much more at 23; I think that this is when it’s over for me.” Another track, “Blindsided,” side-eyes his implication that he was clueless about why the marriage ended, noting they spent years in therapy together: “I know the truth is hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to find; Baby, were you blindsided or were you just blind?” On “Interlude,” Ballerini says she wants to reveal more details but “my lawyer says I shouldn’t.”
The EP was an instant hit with Ballerini’s fans and brought in plenty of new listeners who listened with a voyeuristic curiosity. (Sample tweet: “in a very happy, loving relationship but you’d think otherwise with the amount of streams I’ve put on kelsea ballerini’s divorce ep.”) The songs have more than 20 million combined streams on Spotify alone.
Ballerini continued to pivot from the typical Nashville playbook days later when she announced her intention to do one interview about the project: But instead of sitting down with a veteran music journalist or country radio host, Ballerini chose Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy,” the hugely popular Spotify podcast about relationships, sex and mental health that has more female listeners than any show on the platform.
While Ballerini answered Cooper’s questions very bluntly, the conversation was fairly nuanced about how the pair grew apart — but the singer also didn’t hold back her anger. She said she and Evans had initially a “beautiful conversation” when they decided to end the marriage last summer, but they haven’t spoken since. She was particularly livid when Evans released “Over For You” before the divorce was finalized, which she thought was an opportunistic and exploitative; she was also devastated when she learned Evans wanted half the house that she (mostly) paid for, or she would have to pay alimony. So she gave him half.
“How was I married to this person for this long, and I had no idea that bit of character was tucked within that human being?” she asked Cooper.
Naturally, both fans and the tabloids have had a field day, especially when Evans released his own statement: “It’s really sad for me to see this person, who I spent so much of my life with and loved with all my heart, saying things that aren’t reality and that leave out what really happened.” Ballerini has officially transformed into a Page Six star, especially with her confirmation that she’s now dating actor Chase Stokes from the hit Netflix show “Outer Banks.” Google searches for her name have skyrocketed; her “Call Her Daddy” episode remains near the top of Spotify’s charts a week later.
The reaction in Nashville has been one of extreme surprise. In conversations with those who work in the country music industry, some who have known Ballerini and Evans for many years, few were expecting this level of attention on their breakup. While the two were well-known among the country music set, they kept a relatively low profile as a couple.
“The wild thing is nobody was all that invested in them. They could have moved on so effortlessly,” said one longtime industry staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve professional relationships. Few people want to be seen taking sides on this one.
Yet, the story keeps sparking interest and even more people are poised to discover Ballerini through her appearance on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend. Ballerini recently posted a TikTok video and said “I don’t think in my whole career I’ve ever had music connect like this before.” Evans, for his part, made headlines when he this week when released a five-part documentary called “Over For You,” which follows him on tour in Australia and New Zealand just after the divorce, though he barely addresses the split.
And really, the signs of Ballerini being this open have been there all along. Her vulnerability has always been part of her songwriting, and only increased over her four albums since 2015: Her fears about being the child of a contentious divorce on her debut record; her insecurities about her life and career on the self-titled “Kelsea”; and an acoustic ballad of self-acceptance (“What I Have”) that concludes her latest album released last fall.
But this time, a much bigger audience is involved — not only because Ballerini is performing on SNL (a relatively rare spot for a country singer), but she’s giving the tabloids no shortage of headlines. It remains a bit jarring considering country music’s typical, very traditional path of career development that mostly remains in Nashville, but when asked by Alex Cooper about advice she would give for people feeling trapped in relationships, she sounded like a true tabloid fixture.
“I think asking yourself what the worst case scenario is. Is the worst case scenario feeling like you’re feeling forever, or is it his mom being mad at you? Is it TMZ running a story?” she said. “Is that the worst case scenario? It’s all right.”