Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer and songwriter. She began songwriting as a child and signed a contract with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, The First Time. Her second studio album, Unapologetically, followed in 2017.
Ballerini's first two albums have accounted for seven charted songs on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts. She has five No. 1 singles on the latter, starting with her debut single "Love Me Like You Mean It", which made her the first female artist to send a debut single to the top of that chart since Carrie Underwood in 2006. It was followed by "Dibs" and "Peter Pan", whose peaks also made her the first female country artist to send her first three singles to the top of that chart since Wynonna Judd. Ballerini's fourth No. 1 single is "Legends". Her third studio album, Kelsea, and a counterpart acoustic album, Ballerini, were both released in 2020. Her fourth studio album, Subject to Change was released in 2022.