Kelsea Ballerini bared her heart on stage at The Riviera Theatre in Chicago on Sept. 25, delivering a powerful rendition of her hit song, “Penthouse,” which marked the first show since her widely publicized split from Chase Stokes.
A fan at the concert shared a video with E! News, capturing the former “The Voice” coach leaning on the crowd for support as emotions overcame her during the performance.
Kelsea Ballerini Delivers Emotional First Show Following Chase Stokes Breakup
GettyBack on stage for the first time since her split from “Outer Banks” star Chase Stokes, Kelsea Ballerini gave a raw and heartfelt performance of her ballad “Penthouse” while singing in Chicago.
According to E! News, Ballerini paused mid-song to gather herself, leaning on the support of the crowd. Channeling her feelings into the music, she pushed through and invited the audience to sing a portion of “Penthouse.” When she finished singing the song, she was met with cheers and encouragement from her fans.
A report from People shared that Ballerini covered Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” at the event, but before she sang the song, she told the crowd, “I think there’s this beautiful healing connective thing that happens when I get to play music with you.”
She also told the crowd of her performance, “You’re girl needed it this week.”
Over on the E! News Instagram page, fans poured into the comment section to acknowledge Ballerini’s strength to take the stage. The outlet had reported that Ballerini’s rep confirmed her split from Stokes on Sept. 14, after nearly three years of dating.
“The amount of strength and grace,” a comment read. “Ugh what did he doooooooo to this poor girl,” another fan wrote. “Songs are always more powerful when there’s feelings behind them,” another comment said.
Ballerini Addressed Her Split From Stokes in a TikTok
Ballerini took to TikTok on Sept. 23 to address the chatter surrounding her breakup with Stokes. In the video, she nods to Ariana Grande’s tune “Shut Up” while sipping an energy drink, playfully pointing at the lyrics as if telling those speculating about their split to take a step back.
She captioned her TikTok, “CC: speculators, “sources”, and hidden cameras outside the hair salon. let us be. please,” with the addition of a mending heart emoji.
The breakup took fans by surprise, coming only two days after Stokes shared an Instagram post celebrating Ballerini’s birthday.
Stokes shared a carousel of loving photos of the two, including one where the former couple attended a New York Knicks game with courtside seats, and one where Stokes appeared to be backstage at one of her concerts. He captioned the post, “although you keep saying you’re not excited for 32, id say I’m lookin forward to more of this. happy birthday my love.”
Meanwhile, Ballerini still has a few photos of her and Stokes on her Instagram.
