Kelsea Ballerini Admits She Is a Kelly Clarkson ‘Super Fan’ After Meaning of Life Tour Ends

Kelsea Ballerini was a fan of Kelly Clarkson long before Clarkson invited her to join Clarkson’s Meaning of Life Tour. But now that the tour has ended, Ballerini admits her love for Clarkson has only grown.

“The greatest gift as an opening act is having a front row seat to watch and learn how successful artists steer their ships,” Ballerini wrote alongside a humorous photo of the two of them. “Anyone who knows me knows I have always been a Kelly super fan, but after watching her flawlessly navigate a major tour while taping The Voice and being a wife and momma while never missing a note or a beat AND being kind to everyone and making sure we were all taken care of gave me a whole new lense of respect and love for this woman.

“And more than all of that, the biggest lesson and reminder from this tour is the beauty in authenticity,” she continued. “Kelly is the most open, warm, NORMAL, and not scared to speak her mind kind of spirit, and in a society that’s filtered and tuned to perfection, she reminded me that what’s more likable than being perfect is being real. So here is us eating hot dogs. Love you Kelly Clarkson.”

Ballerini is enjoying plenty of success on her own. The wife of Morgan Evans just had two of her singles, both “I Hate Love Songs” and “Miss Me More,” earn gold certification, for sales in excess of 500,000. The songs are both from Ballerini’s Unapologetically album, but she hints new music is coming.

“Got the news that TWO of my songs went GOLD this week!!!” Ballerini gushed. “This was such encouraging news while working on so much new music….[heart emoji].”

“Miss Me More,” which Ballerini wrote with David Hodges and Brett McLaughlin, and is one of her favorite songs she has ever written.

“The message of ‘Miss Me More’ means so much to me,” Ballerini said. “It’s about being bold and unapologetically standing up for yourself.”

Ballerini understandably took plenty of notes, since she will soon kick off her own headlining Miss Me More Tour, with Brett Young serving as her opening act. Ballerini’s tour kicks off on April 11. Find dates at KelseaBallerini.com.

Photo Credit: Getty / Kevin Winter