Kelsea Ballerini celebrated her second #1 song “Dibs” earlier this week with tears and a tattoo.
Last Wednesday (4/13) at ASCAP’s Nashville office a full house of music industry people gathered with Kelsea and “Dibs” co-writers Josh Kerr, Jason Duke and Ryan Griffin to celebrate the milestone for the chart topping single.
Music Row reports that the recently crowned ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year told those in attendance, “My favorite thing in the whole world is to write songs and I think the greatest gift you can give a songwriter is to write a song with them. These are three of my favorite people, and writers, but people first.”
That is when the tears appeared and tissues were passed around the room as Kelsea continued, “This is what I’ve wanted to do since I was 12 and to do that, with a community of people around you, and they dedicate their time to help you. They believe in you, and drive you all over the country and introduce you to radio, and buy you coffee when you are tired, and bring you to the doctor when you are sick and get your music played on the radio. It’s a big deal.”
Kelsea’s mom was also at the celebration and the singer-songwriter thanked her for her undying love and support, “I started writing songs when I was 12, and I would go downstairs with my notebook because I couldn’t play guitar yet, and I would make her listen to me. And bless her heart, she would for hours,” she shared, adding, “She’s watched me go through the phase of thinking I was every other female artist that has ever been on the radio, and then she watched me find who I was. Through all of that, she’s been the most encouraging person. Ever since I started writing songs, she would say ‘Remember Who You Are,’ and now she still tells me, ‘Remember who you are and remember why you are doing this.’ Thanks for liking my music. All I want to do is make good music with people I love and make you proud and I hope to keep doing that.”
Kelsea also commemorated the career achievement by getting a tattoo, “Yeah, it says ‘Love’ in my mom and dad’s handwriting,” she shared. Does Kelsea plan on getting any more body ink in the future? “I’m not gonna get another tattoo,” she says, “No, I’m done. That’s funny I actually really did do that. I committed.”
Kelsea was surprised at the event with a second milestone for her second chart topping single as she was also presented with a plaque commemorating the fact that “Dibs” had been certified gold for sales of more than 500,000 copies.
Both of Kelsea’s #1 songs, “Dibs” and her debut single “Love Me Like You Mean It” (that debut single has also been certified gold), can be found on her debut album The First Time available everywhere now.
The third single from the project is a song called “Peter Pan” which she performed on the ACM Awards Show. You can watch the music video for the song here.
Kelsea is nominated for both Female Vocalist and Breakthrough Female Vocalist at the upcoming 2016 American Country Countdown Awards which will be broadcast live from the Forum in Los Angeles on May 1st on FOX TV.
By: Buck Stevens
