Kelsea Ballerini credits powerhouse singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson with inspiring her to pursue a career in music.

Ballerini sat down to chat with her fellow coaches on The Voice ahead of the upcoming season. Ballerini will serve as a full-time coach for the first time, alongside Adam Levine, Michael Bublé and John Legend. As they spoke with one another about some of their most memorable moments in music, Legend asked the group when they figured out they wanted to pursue music as a career?

“I have a story,” Ballerini replied. “It involves Kelly Clarkson, again, because I like to bring her up any time I can. But I was seeing her in Knoxville at the arena, and it was her ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes Tour,’ and so she had these two video screens above her stage of her eyes the whole show. So, depending on the song, they would close, or they’d cry or wink or whatever. And I was just at the age where I knew I loved music, but I was like, ‘do I wanna do this? I don’t know how to, but I think I really love this.’ I was having this moment as a little kiddo. And I looked up to these screen eyes of Kelly Clarkson and they winked. And in my soul, I really believed that Kelly Clarkson told me I was supposed to move to Nashville…and she’s weirdly kind of been a consistent throughout my whole career now, so she started it for me.”

Legend also noted that Ballerini previously coached on The Voice as a substitute for Clarkson, who had COVID-19 at the time. Bublé exclaimed, “it’s a full circle moment,” that Ballerini would return to the show to coach her own team.

Ballerini recently appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where she spoke with the original American Idol champion about the concert that inspired her, joining The Voice, Ballerini’s fitness journey, her new album and more.

“I learned so much about touring by opening for you. I really did,” Ballerini told Clarkson. “I wanna tell you a story. So, I remember — I think I’ve told you this story — I saw you in Knoxville. I think I was like 13 or 14. The air conditioning in the arena was out. It was so hot. People were lined up to put water on their face in the bathroom. You were sounding better than the record. And then you just stopped and you go, ‘if any of you could smell me right now, none of you would be here.’ And it was the first time I saw an artist on stage be a human. I’m so serious. ...I’ve always been drawn to that, and I was like, ‘if I ever get to be on a stage, I wanna be like that.’”

Ballerini got to take the stage at her hometown venue, Thompson-Boling Arena, for her first-ever headlining arena show in 2023. She told The Voice coaches that it’s the same arena where she watched Clarkson’s show as a teen. “And Kenny Chesney, who’s like my hometown hero from Knoxville, came out and sang with me, and it was like — I just, I wish I could go back and show 14-year-old me that phot because there (were) so many times in my life that I was like ‘what am I doing?’ And I just, I kind of felt like that’s a moment I can always hang my hat on,” she said. Now, Ballerini is kicking off her first-ever headlining arena tour after releasing her fifth studio record, Patterns.

Ballerini will make her coaching debut in the 27th season of The Voice. It’s set to premiere on Monday, February 3 at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on NBC and Peacock.

Eric Church