Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer-songwriter. She is signed to Black River Entertainment, and released her first album The First Time in 2015. She received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
Kelsea Ballerini was born in Mascot, Tennessee and grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her father, a country radio programmer, is of part Italian descent. Her mother has worked in marketing for Thomas Nelson Bible publishing and a sponsorship company. She started taking dance lessons at 3 and stopped ten years later. She sang in the church and school choirs. She wrote her first song at 12 for her mother and moved to Nashville, Tennessee three years later. She attended Lipscomb University for two years until she pursued a musical career.