Kelsea Ballerini brought an unforgettable surprise guest to the stage during her highly-anticipated homecoming show on Thursday evening (November 2) in Knoxville, Tennessee. Ballerini was in the midst of her heartfelt ballad, “half of my hometown,” on the Thompson-Boling Arena stage when she asked the band to stop.
As the crowd cheered, Ballerini said, “I can’t be in Knoxville and sing this song without Kenny Chesney.” That’s when Chesney, a country music megastar and fellow East Tennessee native who collaborated with Ballerini on the smash-hit single, joined Ballerini on stage. The two artists embraced in a hug and kickstarted the performance again.
Chesney said it “felt so great to be back home with a great friend,” as he shared a video from the Knoxville show on Friday morning (November 3). “Thank you [Kelsea Ballerini] for inviting me to share your stage on such a special night.”
Ballerini teamed up with her dog, Dibs, to reveal plans for her homecoming show in an announcement posted on her 30th birthday. She said at that time that it was a “bucket list” item to play her hometown arena: “throughout the last decade and four albums, there has been a consistent ode to my hometown. whether it be lyrically like in ‘half of my hometown’ or celebrating milestone moments in venues like my high school, the tennessee theater, or the civic center, it’s always been incredibly important to me to go back to the place that let me go to chase my dream. playing thompson-boling has been on my bucket list since i was a little kid watching my favorite musicians come through town and is the perfect place to celebrate such a bookmark year and kick off a new level of touring. see you november 2, knoxville 🧡
“there’s no place like home,” Ballerini said as she shared photos from the show. “we did it.”