Kelsea Nicole Ballerini, born on September 12, 1993, is an American country pop singer, songwriter, and musician. Ballerini, who is 32 years old, began writing songs as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014. She gained prominence in the 2010s and is a five-time Grammy Award nominee. Ballerini was honored with the Gene Weed Milestone Award at the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Rising Star Award at the Billboard Women in Music. She was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2019, becoming the youngest member at the time.
Ballerini's debut album, The First Time, was released in 2015 and made her the only female country artist to have her first three singles from a debut album reach number one on Billboard's Country Airplay chart. She has released several successful albums, including Unapologetically (2017), Kelsea (2020), Ballerini (2020), and Subject to Change (2022). Her most recent album, Patterns, released in October 2024, reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. Ballerini has also expanded her career to include writing poetry, with her book Feel Your Way Through being published in 2021, and has partnered with CoverGirl for cosmetic collaborations.