CMT’s Artists of The Year lineup was a star-studded cast of strong, talented females. The honorees included Kelsea Ballerini, Carrie Underwood, Maren Morris, Hillary Scott, Miranda Lambert and the leading ladies of Little Big Town, Karen Fairchild, and Kimberly Schlapman. With such an incredible group of musicians, it was only fitting that Kelsea Ballerini would ask one more lady of country to join her on stage, the legendary Alison Krauss.
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Ballerini has been touring with Keith Urban on one of country music’s biggest tours yet, Graffiti U. But, it all started for her back in 2014 when she released her debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It.” The upbeat love tune reached #1 on Billboard Country Airplay chart making her the first solo female country music artist to top the charts with a debut single since Carrie Underwood did in 2006 with “Jesus Take The Wheel.”
Since then, the young singer-songwriter has been unstoppable. She has released a second album and is working on a third while coaching aspiring artists on The Voice. She’s making moves and doing so unapologetically. She even teamed up with EDM-pop superstars, The Chainsmokers to create the country-crossover song, “This Feeling.”
So when CMT was picking their honorees for Artist of the Year, Ballerini had to be on the list. The best part is that regardless of how famous she gets, she knows how to stay humble and continue inspiring the next generation of singers.
She told CMT that, “I feel the way I [pay it forward] is when I see a little girl with a sign asking, ‘Can I sing with you,’ my answer is always yes because you showed up in your cute little tutu or your sparkly t-shirt, and you made a sign because you came here to see a female.”
Talk about character! It is no wonder country legend Alison Krauss accepted the invitation to sing on stage with this young lady. Krauss is an experienced artist with almost 30 years under her belt in the music industry. She still tours and wins hearts with her new music. So, the two of them together on stage was set to be a magical experience – and boy was it!
The gals stood on the stage and belted out the lyrics to Shenandoah’s 1990 Grammy nominated song “Ghost In This House,” a song that Krauss recorded for her 1999 album Forget About It. Kelsea kicked off the stirring ballad as Alison backed her up on fiddle. Krauss then took her turn on lead with the second verse before Kelsea joined in with harmonies. The stirring performance brought many to tears, including Carrie Underwood who was shown in the audience with tears running down her cheek.
You can watch the full performance below and let us know what you think of the duo in the comments!