Kelsea Ballerini doesn’t need her man to make the 2026 Grammys red carpet a moment to remember.
“Look at the back! I’m so obsessed with [my dress],” Ballerini, 32, shared with Live From E!: Grammys on Sunday, February 1, about her country chic look for the evening. “I love it so much. I feel like a princess in it, so thank you Etro.”
For music’s biggest night, the country music singer turned heads for all the right reasons in a custom Etro dress with Jimmy Choo shoes and Sabyasachi jewelry.
Stylists Mariel Haenn and Rob Zangardi put the look together while hairstylist Chris Appleton and makeup artist Kelsey Deenihan Fisher provided glam.
“[Etro] sent me sketches last November and they’ve been working on this for a long time,” Ballerini revealed. “I’m happy to be here.”
Us Weekly exclusively confirmed in January that Ballerini had reconciled with ex Chase Stokes in time for the new year.
While celebrating her nomination for Best Contemporary Country Album for Patterns, the “Cowboys Cry Too” singer said she was trying her best to keep her life on the private side.
“Right now, I’m back in my real life,” she said. “I’m not writing. I’ve always been a chronic oversharer, and I think for the first time, I’m at 32 and I’m reigning it in. I think my life might just be my life for awhile.”
One thing Ballerini can’t help but talk about is how proud she is to be part of a country milestone at the Grammys. During this year’s show, awards will be handed out in the Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album categories.
“This record means so much to me,” Ballerini said while celebrating her nomination for Patterns. “The fact that it’s the first time that country music has split the category … I think it’s a really big deal to show the expansion of country music and the evolution of it. To be part of that is an honor.”
Music aside, Ballerini and Stokes, 33, appear to be enjoying a second chapter of their love story in 2026.
On New Year’s Eve 2025, the Outer Banks actor reflected on the past and what’s to come.
“Something I’ve learned this year: don’t take advantage of the most beautiful things that in 33 years of life are fleeting,” he wrote via Instagram with a photo of Ballerini. “Take accountability, learn from mistakes. Lean into love and say it often. 2026 my year of growth, my year of truth. Starting here, starting now.”
Ballerini had her own personal post that same night, which reflected on her year of change.
“Messy year for the heart, messy year for the outside coming in, messy year for the way it became an out of our hands portrayal of it,” her caption stated. “But what I’ll say, and all I really care to share indefinitely with my personal life anymore, is that I really love love. I believe in it, I believe in him, and I believe in breaking patterns. Now go kiss your person and stop speculating.”
