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Kelsea Ballerini Covers The Chicks as She Kicks Off Tour in New York City

Kelsea Ballerini dropped her “audit” record on Friday. Subject to Change is the fourth studio album for the 29-year-old star. It’s a collection of songs that she wrote during her marriage struggles. The culminated with a recent divorce, and the songs kind of reflect that period of her life. She celebrated the occasion by kicking off a ten-date run of concerts at the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Saturday.

During the performance, she altered the lyrics to several of her songs. While performing her latest single, “WHAT I HAVE,” she changed the line, “I got a warm body in bed” to “I got my own body in bed.” During the song “Get Over Yourself,” she changed the line “I’m the crazy b—- that wrecked your life” to “I’m the crazy ex that wrecked your life.”

It was an emotional night for Ballerini, who hasn’t been on the road since 2019. In fact, this run of dates were scheduled prior to the pandemic and they are supposed to be in support of her third album, 2020’s kelsea. That one dropped immediately before the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So she’s actually debuting two albums of material live on this run. That album included singles like “Half of My Hometown” and “hole in the bottle.” She included both of those in this set, along with a version of “Homecoming Queen” with opener Georgia Webster.

Kelsea Ballerini Sneaks a The Chicks Cover Into A New Song

One of the new songs that she performed was “LOVE IS A COWBOY.” During the performance, she weaved in a portion of The Chicks’ classic track “Cowboy Take Me Away.” She’s added the song to songs on previous tours. It’s a go-to for Kelsea Ballerini.

She also included a track that she cut with The Chainsmokers called “This Feeling.” That was a big pop crossover smash for her. A four-track encore was mostly filled with cuts from the new album. It began with “WHAT I HAVE.” It also included “MUSCLE MEMORY,” “Miss Me More” and “DOIN’ MY BEST.”

Near the end of the performance, she spoke a little more about her evolution through the pandemic.

“Change is inevitable,” she began. “Change is a part of life. It is necessary, and when we allow it to just happen to us and just pass through us and deal with it as it comes instead of fearing it, there’s a lot more room to live and enjoy. I just realized that what I have may look different tomorrow, but what is meant for me is mine and what is meant for you is yours. In this moment, I can’t remember the last time I felt more grateful for what I have.”