Photo: Getty Images
Kelsea Ballerini wore a stunning leopard-print gown, a vibrant red dress with a perfectly-matched red lip, and other head-turning looks in a new photoshoot and interview for a new New York Post lifestyle story.
Ballerini, 29, reflected on her 10-city “HEARTFIRST Tour” following the release of her long-awaited studio album Subject To Change, opening up about mental health, her divorce from fellow country singer-songwriter Morgan Evans, the eating disorder she battled in her teenage years, and more. She spoke with the Post’s Alexa for the story shared on Wednesday (November 9).
“I did a lot of self-assessment on this record, evaluating my friendships and evaluating my relationship at the time,” Ballerini said of her latest project, which is filled with honest reflections and fan-favorite anthems, including the high-energy collaboration with Carly Pearce and Kelly Clarkson, “You’re Drunk, Go Home.” She told Alexa that when she wrote the song, “I was like, ‘Who could add some sass and some wit to this?’ My first call was Carly — we go way back, and I just adore her. And then I thought, ‘Who’s from a different world that would add something?’ I texted Kelly in the morning, and she did vocals that night.”
Ballerini also opened up about a “hard realization” and clarified the point of her song “Doin’ My Best,” which addresses couples therapy with Evans and a dissolved friendship with another artist. She told Alexa: “It’s simply not the point of the song, and it’s certainly not the point to ever shade another artist, let alone someone I respect and I know as a human. That song in general is just about taking ownership of my life and the things that I acknowledge may have seemed messy or noticeable over the years.”
Read Ballerini’s full New York Post story here.
The “What I Have” star shared a few snapshots from the photoshoot on Instagram, tagging photographer Eduardo Rezende with makeup artist Kelsey Deenihan Fisher and New York Post and Alexa deputy fashion editor Anahita Moussavian. Ballerini’s followers and other artists quickly gushed over them. Hannah Ellis said “the first photo dropped my jaw,” Jessie James Decker hailed the photos “stunning,” as did Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman and Karen Fairchild, and fans applauded the “Shania (Twain)… vibes” and deemed her a “fashion icon.” See Ballerini’s post here: