On Tuesday night, April 16th, Kelsea Ballerini crossed a major milestone off her bucket list. The country star was inducted as the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry by Carrie Underwood. As Underwood handed the youngest current member the coveted Opry member award, Ballerini tearfully stepped into the historic circle to share her gratitude.
“It is so nice and comforting to know that no matter where life takes me, and if radio stops playing me tomorrow, that I can always come here and I can always play country music,” she tearfully told the sold-out Nashville audience as fellow Opry members Keith Urban and Vince Gill watched side stage. “Grand Ole Opry, thanks for seeing something in me and for believing that I’ll always love you like I do because I do, and I will.”
Ballerini is in the midst of her first arena tour where on Thursday, April 18th she returned to Knoxville, Tennessee for a hometown show. She also hinted that new music is on the way during a press conference ahead of her induction.
“It’s really fulfilling to know that you can write these songs about how you feel and put a lot of work into it and people resonate with it enough to spend money on a ticket,” she told Billboard and other media. “I’m on tour right now and that’s my whole focus. Then I need to make a dang good album and that’s my next focus. I’ve been writing for it. I have a couple months this summer to really hook in and figure out what it’s going to be, what the heart of it is, and what it’s going to say. We have the first couple of singles ready to go and I’m really excited.”
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