Kelsea Ballerini returned to the Grand Ole Opry stage for the first-time since June 2021 on Saturday evening (Jan. 22) and during her set she debuted a brand-new song.
Donning a pastel floral dress, the country superstar and East Tennessee native performed a unreleased song that has yet to be titled, but has already been dubbed “What I Have” by fans.
Prior to performing the reflective tune, Ballerini joked, “half of you are going to be mad at me because I’m not playing ‘Peter Pan,’ but hopefully I can make it up to you.” She then told fans that she has been hard at work on a new album, which would follow her self-titled projects, Kelsea and Ballerini.
“I just started making a new album, and I’m in the really early stages, and it’s still kind of coming together, and I’m still trying to figure it out,” Ballerini shared.
Ballerini continued to share that the upcoming new album will have an overall theme of coming to realization that sometimes the little things in life are the most important.
“I think one of themes that I am finding is what I think probably a lot of us have found in the last couple of years as we kind of been forced to step back and look at our lives and have a lot of time to do that,” the pop-country hitmaker said. “It’s made you look at what you have differently and for me, I’ve started to really appreciate the little things in life a lot more.”
“So, this is a song that I’m really proud of, and I’ve never played it for anyone before and maybe if you like it, I’ll put it on the album, let me know,” she later added, before performing the new untitled song.
Joined by a guitarist, Ballerini performed the track, which finds the singer coming to realization that “you don’t got to shine to be gold” and that she’s happy with all the non-materialistic things that she has in her life.
“I got a roof over my head / I got a warm body in bed / I’m doing alright / right where I’m at / with what I have,” Ballerini sings on the chorus of the unreleased tune. “I got a jeep / I got a dog / I got what they call a dream job / plenty to want / nothing wrong with that, but I’m happy with what I have.”
After performing the new song, Ballerini earned a roaring applause as fans loved the relatable new song.
Hear the new song below.
Ballerini also performed some fan-favorite hits during her Opry set, including “Miss Me More,” “Hole In The Bottle,” and “Half Of My Hometown.”
Deana Carter, Jeannie Seely, John Conlee, Gary Mule Deer, Ricky Skaggs and Texas Hill also performed at the Opry on Saturday evening.
