Kelsea Ballerini Gets Honest With Fans in Chicago Amidst Breakup and Health Challenges

It’s been quite a week for Kelsea Ballerini. The singer got real at a show this week in Chicago following her breakup.

This Thursday, at an exclusive live show with SiriusXM and Pandora in Chicago, Kelsea Ballerini chatted with fans and sang a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”

It seemed that this particular show was a healing one for Ballerini, who recently went through a breakup with actor Chase Stokes, after nearly three years of dating. She told her fans in the audience, “I think there’s this beautiful healing connective thing that happens when I get to play music with you. Your girl needed that this week.”

Not only has the Grammy-nominated artist been dealing with all the challenges that come with a breakup, but she’s also been taking care of her dog, Dibs, amidst health challenges. Recently, on her Instagram story, she asked fans to keep him in their thoughts. “Baby boy has a [surprise] surgery today. We would appreciate all of the big love, prayers, and healing energy you can send his way. It’s gotten him this far,” she shared.

It Hasn’t Been the Easiest Week for Kelsea Ballerini

Ballerini first got her goldendoodle, Dibs, in 2015, naming him after her single “Dibs.” The song was incredibly significant for Ballerini at the time, as it marked her second consecutive No. 1 single on the Billboard chart. That song also made Ballerini the first solo female country artist to send her first two career singles to the top of that chart since Jamie O’Neal in 2001.

In August of last year, Ballerini shared that Dibs had inoperable cancer in his heart. She documented this on her Instagram stories, sharing that doctors were starting him on “big meds” to give him “as many comfortable and happy days (weeks, months ?) left as possible.” Dibs would eventually surpass his expected prognosis of four months, as Ballerini would update fans via social media. However, it seems she was hit hard this week when a surprise surgery was needed for Dibs on Tuesday.

This came following her split from Chase Stokes, a factor that probably didn’t make the unexpected surgery any easier. According to sources close to Ballerini and Stokes, the couple “gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn’t.” The pair had been together for three years, and the news of this came as a shock to many.

At her show in Chicago this week, amidst it all, the “Baggage” singer showed us that honest side to her that we all know and love. We hope that things start to look up in the weeks to come, because if anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s definitely Kelsea Ballerini.