Kelsea Ballerini Debuts New Single ‘Heartfirst’ at CMT Music Awards

Watch her premiere her new single from home.

Written by Chris Parton
Kelsea Ballerini Debuts New Single ‘Heartfirst’ at CMT Music Awards
Kelsea Ballerini; Photo via YouTube/Blythe Thomas

Kelsea Ballerini had kind of a weird night on Monday (April 11). The country star was all set to co-host the 2022 CMT Music Awards for the second year, and debut a brand new single in the process, when disaster struck. She tested positive for COVID-19 and had to pull out of the gig. Sort of.

Luckily, she was able to work from home — sound familiar? — and still got to share the upbeat “Heartfirst” with fans. Check out her improvised awards-show performance below.

Marking her first new music of 2022 and an early taste of her next album, “Heartfirst” features a bright sound a sunny romantic disposition, all about jumping “heart first” into life and love — no matter what’s happened in the past. With a steady beat and Ballerini’s pop-timistic vocal at its sweetest, she takes a chance on herself and wills listeners to follow the lead. And when her CMT Music Awards performance came around, she put the song into practice.

Jumping heart first into the moment, Ballerini turned her home into a stage, opting for simple elegance with a mint green mini-dress, eyeshadow to match and an ivory white acoustic guitar. She then set up a curtain that served both as a tie-dyed backdrop and a projection screen, making the absolute most of the situation in front of her. And really, that’s what “Heartfirst” is about, too.

Following the show, “Heartfirst” was revealed as the “most added song at country radio” for the week, and Ballerini says more new music will be coming soon. She recently hit Number One with “half of my hometown” (featuring Kenny Chesney), and in other news, was announced as the newest face of COVERGIRL.