Kelly Clarkson Gave Kelsea Ballerini the Push She Needed, and She Doesn’t Even Know It
Kelsea Ballerini has Kelly Clarkson to thank for her career in music, at least a little bit. In a new interview with BuzzFeed, the "I Hate Love Songs" singer reveals that while she was at a show on Clarkson's Behind These Hazel Eyes Tour when she was 14, she had an epiphany.
She wanted to become a singer. And Ballerini believes Clarkson gave her the shove she needed to make it happen.
"She had these two massive screens of her eyes above the stage, and so depending on the song they would cry or blink or wink," Ballerini remembers. "It was right when I thought I was gonna move to Nashville and be a singer, so I was super into it."
"I remember I was watching her sing one of these songs and I was having a moment of, 'That’s exactly what I’m gonna do with my life, this is it.' And I looked up and the eyes winked," she continues, recalling the moment. And I was like, Kelly Clarkson just told me that I have to be an artist. I swear, true story."
Ballerini has since met many of her idols, including Clarkson, as well as Taylor Swift. Both superstars have provided her with some helpful advice. Some of the best advice she Ballerini ever received came early in her career, straight from Swift.
"I was on radio tour and I had just gone through media training so I was trying to answer everything perfect and just be perfect all the time but that’s just not who I am, and it was exhausting," Ballerini confesses. "I remember she was telling me, 'It’s gonna feel like cool wins sometimes, and sometimes it really might win. But, in the long run, if you’re just yourself, and you don’t worry about being cool or being perfect or saying the right things, you’re gonna be A: happier, and B: in the long run that’s the win.'"
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