Kelsea Ballerini Admits She Cried Herself To Sleep After Leaving The ACM Awards Empty-Handed

Earlier this year, Kelsea Ballerini left the 60th ACM Awards without a single trophy, despite being nominated in three major categories. Now, she’s opening up about how that moment really impacted her and what that means for her future in country music.

The female hitmaker was vying for a win in the categories for Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, and Music Event of the Year. The first two categories went to Lainey Wilson, while Ella Langley took home the third.

At the time, Ballerini’s loyal fanbase came to her defense, claiming she deserved to take home a win after the monumental year she’s had. The “Baggage” singer admitted that the defeat was hard on her as well.

“I did cry myself to sleep that night. That is true…,” she revealed during a recent interview with Elle.

Though the moment came with its share of disappointment, it also gave Ballerini a chance to rethink what success really looks like for her in this chapter. It’s a bit hard for her to grasp that while she’s only continued to grow in her career, the level of recognition she once had in the very beginning of her musical journey has not seemed to follow her.

As for why this has happened, Ballerini simply stated, “I wish I had a good answer for this, or I’d probably sleep a little better at night.”

The Tennessee native racked up hits very fast in the beginning and then all of a sudden, despite still working just as hard, if not harder than ever before, the chart-topping tracks suddenly came to a halt.

Her first trio of number one hits all spawned from her debut album and included “Love Me Like You Mean It,” “Dibs,” and “Peter Pan.” This eventually turned into having seven number one hits on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, with her latest being “Half Of My Hometown” featuring Kenny Chesney, in 2022.

“I had seven number ones and then one day I just didn’t anymore,” she continued. “I still put in the work and I still show up and put out songs that are undeniably country to radio, and it’s just different now. And that’s okay. If this was what success looked like for those first seven songs and now that’s shifted for whatever reason, where else can we go? I’m not going to stop. I’m not going to stop making music, so where else can I fit?”

While she continues to navigate what the future of her career in music looks like, Ballerini says she has been “shifting” where she finds her success and that doesn’t necessarily include taking home wins from major award shows anymore.

“I’ve never really been an award show girly. I love going, I love performing and I really let it affect me for a long time, and now I just go, you know what? I’m happy to be in the conversation. I know that I have value here and this is not where I find my success.”

Looking ahead to the next country music award show, the CMA Awards which will take place on November 19, Kelsea Ballerini is in the running for just one trophy – Female Vocalist of the year. She is vying for the win against fellow nominees Miranda lambert, Ella Langley, Lainey Wilson and Megan Moroney.

Recently, instead of focusing on the outcome of the upcoming award show, Ballerini has been enjoying life while gearing up to return to her 2025 headline run, Kelsea Ballerini: Live on Tour. The trek took place across the U.S. earlier this year and will now head to Australia, with shows in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane this December.