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Kelsea Ballerini finally revealed which artists appear on the only collaboration included on her long-awaited album, and fans are losing their minds.
“So, y’all have been asking for months now if there’s a collab on the album, and I’ve hinted that there is, and I did post a little sneaky picture — and you guys are spies. You did guess that it is indeed my girl, Carly Pearce,” Ballerini revealed in a video she shared on her social media channels.
But she didn’t stop there.
“I did fool you because it is not just Carly Pearce,” Ballerini continued with a grin. “We have a trio. …It’s Kelly freakin’ Clarkson.”
Ballerini has been teasing the collaboration as “a sassbomb honkeytonk collab moment,” including on her Instagram story earlier this week. The “HEARTFIRST” artist fielded a few questions from her fans in a brief Q&A, including whether her album, Subject To Change, includes a collaboration. Ballerini shared a text message exchange with Pearce’s and Clarkson’s names crossed out.
Ballerini wrote in the text, along with a clip of the song, that she’s “finishing up my record and have a song that I wanted to turn into a sassbomb female moment and just have to ask you if you would be a part of it. it’s country as sh*t and I’ve also asked (another unnamed artist) to be on it, so it would be a little trio. let me know what you think?!” The mystery collaborator responded: “I love it! Love (the other artist) as well! Also, ‘country as sh*t’ is my favorite kind of country music ha! I’m in.”
The trio teamed up on “You’re Drunk, Go Home,” one of 15 tracks to appear on Subject To Change. So far, Ballerini has released four songs from the upcoming project, including ““HEARTFIRST,” “Love Is A Cowboy,” “The Little Things” and “What I Have.” Ballerini previously shared that the collection is “different than anything I’ve ever done, and it’s heavily influenced by… ‘90s female country.”