Kelsea Ballerini is sharing some heartfelt reflections in her latest release — including a special nod to her boyfriend, Chase Stokes.
The country music star, 30, dropped her new single “Sorry, Mom” on Friday, August 9, a deeply personal ballad that doubles as a letter to her mother. By the end of the song, which Ballerini spends apologizing for past mistakes, she reassures her mom that everything has turned out just fine.
“Now, I turned out alright / And we both sleep good at night / I met a guy that we both like,” Ballerini sings in the chorus, revealing that Stokes, 31, has earned her mom’s seal of approval.
Before the track officially dropped, Ballerini took to Instagram Stories to share her excitement. Alongside a beaming selfie, she wrote, “‘Sorry Mom’ (maybe my favorite song I’ve ever written) is out tonight.”
After the release, she updated fans, posting, “Sorry Mom is out now and I’m heading straight to celebrate with my momma.”
Stokes, best known for his role in Outer Banks, also showed his support. He posted a screenshot of the song on Spotify, adding, “Magic. Absolute magic,” and urged his followers to “Call your mommas, give ’em [a] little love. The real life superheroes.”
Ballerini and Stokes first sparked dating rumors in January 2023 when they were spotted together at the College Football Playoff National Championship in Los Angeles. The singer confirmed their romance a month later during an appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, sharing the story of how she slid into his DMs with a simple, “Hi, Chase Stokes.”
“Sorry, Mom” serves as the lead single from Ballerini’s upcoming album Patterns, which she announced on Thursday, August 8. Due out on October 25, this will be her fifth full-length studio album.
“Let’s start unpacking,” Ballerini teased via Instagram on Thursday, sharing the cover art of the LP, which shows her lounging atop a stack of mismatched suitcases on a beach at sunset. The singer looks stunning in a nude gown with her signature blonde locks styled in beachy waves.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, Ballerini shared that the album offers an “accurate snapshot” of her life.
“I think that people probably expect this really happy-go-lucky, love, mushy, gushy record from me. That’s not the case,” she said. “And I’m really proud of that. It would have been easy to just collect the really beautiful parts of my life that I’ve dusted off and found the last couple of years. But that’s not the fullness of my experience.”
