Kelsea Ballerini’s Yellow Grammys Gown Was a Nod to Her Album Cover
If you thought that Kelsea Ballerini's sunny, detail-filled floor-length yellow gown at the 2023 Grammy Awards looked familiar, there's good reason for that.
The country singer commissioned her custom dress specifically to be a dead ringer for the one she wears on the cover of her latest album, 2022's Subject to Change. In that photo shoot, Ballerini wore a flowy yellow gown that swirled around her in a blurry action shot — and she brought the look to the Grammys with a stunning outfit created just for her by designer Prabal Gurung.
"Never taking this sunshine dress off," Ballerini wrote after the show on Sunday night (Feb. 5), with a series of shots spotlighting her outfit. "Thank you for making my album cover come to life in this custom dream [Prabal Gurung.]"
According to fashion and beauty publication WWD, Ballerini's vision for her Grammys dress stemmed from wanting to embody her album's sense of renewal and new beginnings.
"There's motion around it," Ballerini tells Gurung, describing why she wanted to replicate her look from the Subject to Change artwork. "And to me it represents growth and an evolution and stepping into a new season. I really wanted to bring that to life on the carpet, so this is our take on the album cover coming to life in a much more fashionable, regal, dramatic way."
"It's been a big season of change and growth for me," adds the singer, who also announced her divorce from fellow artist husband Morgan Evans early on in her Subject to Change album cycle. "So showing up on the red carpet for the Grammys, being nominated for that song talking about trusting myself, I wanted to wear something that matched that energy."
Ballerini was nominated in the Best Country Solo Performance category for Subject to Change's lead single, "Heartfirst." Ultimately, that award went to Willie Nelson at Sunday night's show.