Kelsea Ballerini Defends Beyoncé’s Country Grammy Nominations: “You Don’t Have To Be a Country Artist To Make a Country Record”

Country star Kelsea Ballerini doesn’t quite understand why anyone would complain about artists like Beyoncé and Post Malone being nominated in country categories.

The 31-year-old singer, a Grammy nominee this year in the best country duo/group performance category, spoke on SiriusXM’s Fierce: Women in Music on Friday about the upcoming awards. Show host Lori Majewski asked the Tennessee native about what she thinks about artists like Beyoncé, Post Malone and Kacey Musgraves, who dabble in several genres, being nominated against “hardcore country” performers like Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson.

“That category, to me, represents what country music has been this year, and that’s what the album of the year category should represent. What has happened in country music and been successful in groundbreaking this year. I don’t really understand the other opinions other than like, it’s amazing to have huge, respected artists and other genres come in and celebrate ours,” the “Cowboys Cry Too” singer said. “I don’t understand why that would be anything but great.”

Ballerini said she doesn’t understand why it’s OK for country singers to try pop but not the other way around. “You don’t have to be a country artist to make a country record,” she added. “Those don’t have to exist in the same plane.”

The singer also talked about bringing her boyfriend, Outer Banks star Chase Stokes, as a date to the Grammys. Ballerini is nominated for “Cowboys Cry Too,” her duet with folk-pop singer Noah Kahan. “It just so happens that we’re all friends, him [Kahan] and his fiance, and Chase and I. They live very close to us and we go over and we hang out,” she said. Ballerini said she told the group at the Country Music Awards that the four of them would have a double date night at Sunday’s Grammys.

“Noah and I are gonna take some photos, and then we’re gonna go in and just drink some wine and watch performances and it’s gonna be the best date night ever,” she said. “It’s both, it’s like date night for us and then double date night and then celebrating a song that I’m so proud of with an artist that I just adore.”

Ballerini had nothing but praise for Kahan. “I can’t say enough. Truly every collaboration has taught me something very different and some have been more positive experiences than others as they do,” she said. “But Noah, he’s just such a good human and he’s such a damn good songwriter.”

As a five-time Grammy nominee who has yet to win the award, Ballerini reflected on her track record.

“I don’t win things,” she said. “I don’t, and I’m cool with it. There are certain things that used to like really make me cry myself to sleep. One is when people said I wasn’t country and two is losing awards.”

The star says she’s changed her relationship with it all. “People identify country music in different ways. To me, it’s are you writing your truth of your story? That to me is country music. Whether it’s a banjo or a beat drop to me, doesn’t matter,” Ballerini said, noting that getting to perform on shows like the CMAs or the ACMS is an award itself. “Once I rewired my brain to think like that, I’m so ecstatic to show up and, and perform most of the time, some of the time.”