Teamwork Makes the Country Dream Work: Kelsea Ballerini and Her Most Powerful Collaborations

Kelsea Ballerini is recognized as a genre-defying artist. Over the years, she’s blurred the lines of what “country music” should sound like and experimented with sounds from other genres. But if there’s one thing Ballerini does better than defy genre, write breakup bangers, and compose self-love anthems, it’s team up with other artists to make memorable music.  

We’re checking out her greatest collaborations, the ones that prove a little teamwork and a killer harmony can make the dream work.  

Ballerini’s duet with country music legend Kenny Chesney became a No. 1 hit on country radio. “Half of My Hometown,” a track that detailed both Ballerini and Chesney’s shared love for Tennessee, also won Musical Event of the Year at the 2021 CMA Awards.   

Ballerini once shared that she received an encouraging text from Chesney early in her career after he saw her name on a billboard in New York, expressing pride in her achievements as a "hometown girl,” making their duet a “very full circle” moment for her. After writing “Half of My Hometown,” she sent Chesney the song at 2:00 AM, which Chesney agreed to collaborate on.   

Ballerini recently paid tribute to Chesney during his Country Music Hall of Fame induction by performing his 2010 song, “Somewhere with You.”  

“The Other Girl” with Halsey is another of Ballerini’s most successful collabs. It became a Top 20 hit on both Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and Adult Top 40 charts, an amazing feat since it was released during the COVID-19 lockdown.  

The two met in 2018 at a Nashville concert and sang a duet of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” at Santa’s Pub, which led to their eventual collaboration.  

Ballerini’s duet with Noah Kahan achieved a significant milestone: it became the most-added song on country radio upon its release. The track also debuted at No. 27 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, No. 16 on Billboard Hot Country Songs, and No. 50 on Billboard Hot 100 (highest debut for Ballerini), achieved gold certification in Canada, and reached No. 87 on the US Hot Country Songs year-end chart.   

The idea for a collab happened when they performed together at the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards. Ballerini said of the song, “The response so far has made me feel a mix of massive appreciation and a genuine exhale. I think a lot of people wish they could drop their armor, admit when they're hurt or they're scared, and just not feel like a failure for owning their humanness at its core.”  

One of Ballerini’s surprise collaborations is with the indie-pop group LANY, although the group has a country music connection: they began their musical journey in Nashville in 2014. Ballerini co-wrote “I Quit Drinking” with LANY’s Paul Jason Klein, Jimmy Robbins, and Nicolle Galyon, and it was one of her more genre-defying works.   

The track, which is about former lovers who quit drinking because alcohol and getting drunk reminded them of their previous relationship, performed well on the charts: it reached No. 30 on the Hot Country Songs chart, No. 27 on the Digital Song Sales chart, No. 19 on the Adult Pop Airplay chart, and No. 8 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart. It also achieved gold certification in the US, platinum in Canada, and peaked at No. 31 on New Zealand's Hot Singles chart.  

Ballerini and LANY also performed the song during the CMT Awards in 2021.   

A song about calling out an unworthy ex especially after all the things the singer did for him: “I was kind, I was warm, I was patient / All the nights that you cried when you're wasted / Hold your hand, rub your chest when you're anxious / Helped you with the career you were making / Look at you, you're a star, I'm the reason / That you're more confident, motivated,” the track was included in Fletcher’s album “Girl Of My Dreams (Deluxe).”  

The music video for "Better Version" features actors Gavin Leatherwood and Ava Capri showing the rise and fall of two love stories.