Kelly Clarkson nodded to her hometown when she performed a stunning cover of Kelsea Ballerini’s “half of my hometown,” a nostalgic ballad that features longtime country hitmaker Kenny Chesney. Clarkson put her own spin on the song during the Kellyoke segment of The Kelly Clarkson Show, becoming the latest country cover in addition to beloved songs by Brooks & Dunn, Kacey Musgraves, Dolly Parton and others.
The song earned Ballerini her first Country Music Association Award in the Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year categories in November. “I'm so proud of this song. And I love everyone that's a part of it,” Ballerini said at the time of her award-winning song. Chesney added in a tribute to her: “Growing up in East Tennessee, it’s a deeper kind of home. You have to have lived it to really understand. Kelsea knows that, knows how hard it is to leave to chase a dream like music. It’s what made being part of ‘Half of My Hometown’ so special! I know that feeling of everyone having an opinion, hating leaving all that love and needing to go out and find your place in the songs.”
Ballerini debuted her emotional music video for the song last year, reflecting on a high school aged version of herself and wondering what life would have been like if she’d stayed in her hometown rather than pursuing her dreams in Nashville. Ballerini deemed it “the most emotional, grounding, and full circle video I’ve gotten to make.”
Watch Clarkson’s spin on it here: