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Kelsea Ballerini shared a sweet glimpse of her dog, Dibs, after she experienced an emotional moment on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Ballerini paused her performance at the iconic venue, where she recently played an album release show to mark the debut of her highly-anticipated fifth studio album, Patterns. During the show, Ballerini performed “Penthouse” from Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, the deeply personal EP she released in February 2023 after her divorce. She sings in the vulnerable ballad, “I bought the house with a fence/ Enough room for some kids, a backyard for Dibs.”
“A backyard for Dibs” has become a line that audiences shout in unison at Ballerini’s live shows. Ballerini tearfully stepped away from her microphone during that moment at the Madison Square Garden show, and prompted the crowd to continue singing the chorus for her. The emotional moment took place months after Ballerini shared that Dibs is battling inoperable heart cancer.
“Dibs, can I tell you something?” Ballerini said as she shard a glimpse of Dibs on TikTok. “Do you know that the whole entire arena sang ‘in a backyard for Dibs’ at Madison Square Garden because they love you so much? Isn’t that crazy? Are you in your backyard for Dibs right now? He’s like, ‘yeah, this is my backyard. Don’t worry about it.’ Do you wanna say that you love everyone and that you’re thankful for all the thoughts and prayers and that you’re feeling pretty good today? Wonderful. Wonderful, buddy. Say we love you. We love you.”
Ballerini said when she announced Dibs’ cancer that “he’s not in pain, and luckily it hasn’t spread further. We’re going to start him on the ‘big’ meds to try to make sure he can have as many comfortable and happy days (weeks, months 🙏) left as possible. …It’s a complex and emotional time. He’s been my baby and my steady for the last 9 years and very much alongside this whole journey with us all. I know so many of you care about him and are sending him prayers and love, and from my whole heart… thank you. He’s wagging his tail right now no doubt saying thank you, too.”