KELSEA BALLERINI ACHIEVES #1 SONG AT BILLBOARD AND MEDIABASE COUNTRY AIRPLAY CHARTS WITH ACCLAIMED SINGLE “half of my hometown” feat. Kenny Chesney
Two-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated multiplatinum songwriter and producer Kelsea Ballerini has risen to No.1 at the Billboard and Mediabase Country Airplay Charts with her acclaimed gold selling single “half of my hometown” featuring fellow East Tennessee songwriter/superstar and the only country artist in the Top 10 of Touring Artists of the Last 25 Years for the past dozen years Kenny Chesney. This marks Kelsea’s seventh No. 1 song on the Mediabase Country Charts and Chesney’s 35th #1, extending his record of the most #1s on the Country Singles chart. In addition to hitting No. 1, “half of my hometown” is approaching 200 million streams.
The single hits #1 on the Country Radio chart following its two recent wins for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year at the 2021 Country Music Association Awards. Kelsea is again nominated for Music Event of the Year at the 2022 ACM Awards as both artist and producer for “half of my hometown.” This marks Kelsea’s first ACM nomination as a producer.
Ballerini says, “Sometimes leaving is the only way you understand the importance of where you’re from. Leaving Knoxville at 15 to go chase my dreams was the hardest and best decision I’ve ever made. I love every single person who is a part of ‘half of my hometown.’ Kenny Chesney showed up in every way for this song and has become such a friend and brother through it. Thank you, Country Radio; thank you, Black River Entertainment and thank you to the cheerleading coach who didn’t let me on the team, because I would have never picked up the guitar and gotten here.”
“When Kelsea texted, I wanted to hear the kind of song a girl from back home would write,” Chesney said. “And it was even better than I’d thought, and my expectations were pretty high. Kelsea’s song is everything about leaving where we’re from is: how hard to leave a place that is everything you are, how badly the need to be a singer or a writer of songs can be. She nailed it, and I was honored to be a part of it.”
Click HERE to watch the music video for “half of my hometown,” directed by Patrick Tracy.
The evocative “half of my hometown” is the fourth single off of Ballerini’s self-titled third full-length studio album kelsea (Black River Entertainment). Released in March of 2020, the album was certified gold and met with critical praise including by NPR who said, “Kelsea Ballerini is definitely one of the most influential women in country right now… she’s defining the sound of the genre.” While under quarantine, Kelsea created the second half of that album’s story, ballerini. On this project, she carefully deconstructed each song and re-recorded everything with minimal accompaniment and co-produced this new album with friend and collaborator Jimmy Robbins. Kelsea shows yet another side of herself with this reimagined take on the entire album. The delicate sonics highlight the lyrical power of the record as she has stripped all of the songs down to the bare essentials.
These accomplishments continue a prolific several months for Ballerini. The single was recently certified gold, marking the seventh RIAA gold and platinum certification off her album kelsea. She was recently named as a 2021 CMT Artist of The Year. This summer, Ballerini joined the Jonas Brothers on their capacity The Remember This Tour and teamed up with US alt-pop trio LANY for “I QUIT DRINKING.” The song has already amassed over 80 million streams and shot to #2 on the iTunes pop songs chart upon release.
Stay tuned for more news from Kelsea Ballerini soon!