Kelsea Ballerini Crying Over Carrie Underwood's Sweet Speech About Her Is So Pure
Underwood welcomed Ballerini to the Grand Ole Opry in 2019 — and they shared the most heartfelt on-stage moment.
Viewers across America fell in love with Kelsea Ballerini during Season 27 of The Voice — but she's been new country royalty for years now. Just ask the Grand Ole Opry.
April 16, 2019, marked a pivotal moment in Ballerini's career; it was when she was officially inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. During that emotional night, Carrie Underwood had the honor of inducting the then-25-year-old into the Opry—and Ballerini crying over Underwood's speech is one of the sweetest things ever.
"You have accomplished so much in your career, and you will undoubtedly accomplish infinite amounts more in your career and in your life," Underwood told Ballerini on stage.
RELATED: How Kelsea Ballerini Stopped Being a "Chronic People Pleaser": "I Had to Shift..."
"Awards and number-ones and sales and tours and fans and just all of it—this is better than all of that," Underwood said, referring to the Opry induction.
Ballerini was in tears almost from the moment Underwood started speaking. "I really wouldn't know what it looks like to be a woman in country music without Carrie Underwood," Ballerini told the audience after Underwood's speech. "Your grace and your poise and your heart, and if I could be half the artist you are, I feel like I'm doing something right."
RELATED: How Kelsea Ballerini Got Her Start in Country Music (DETAILS)
Watch Carrie Underwood and Kelsea Ballerini's moving interaction at the Opry in 2019, below:
That same night, Underwood and Ballerini performed Trisha Yearwood's "Walkaway Joe" for the Opry audience, and it's clear from this duet we need more collaborations from these country queens ASAP.
Kelsea Ballerini reflects on her songs not "winning anything"
Forget about Grammys and CMAs—Ballerini thinks performing on the biggest stages in the music world is better than any award. While she's one of the few Voice Coaches to (incredulously) never win a Grammy, it's not something she thinks about.
"I don't win things ... and I'm cool with it," Ballerini said on the SiriusXM show Fierce: Women in Music in 2025. "There are certain things that used to really make me cry myself to sleep. One is when people said I wasn't country. And two is losing awards. Now I've changed my relationship with all of it… If you get nominated, that means that sometimes, if you're lucky, you get three-and-a-half minutes to sing on a show like the CMAs or the ACMs or the CMTs, you know? And that's an award… I'm good with it."
