Kelsea Ballerini Pays Homage to Taylor Swift on First Stop of Jonas Brothers Tour [Watch]
Kelsea Ballerini surprised fans on Friday night (Aug. 20) by covering Taylor Swift's "Teardrops on my Guitar" while opening for the Jonas Brothers at the Park Theater in Las Vegas.
"There is one particular woman who really paved the way for people like me," Ballerini said, launching into a faithful cover of the song. Her Swift cover came in a medley that also included renditions of "I'm Like a Bird" by Nelly Furtado and "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson.
"Teardrops on My Guitar" was the second single from Swift's self-titled debut album and her first song to break the Top 5 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart back in 2007. Swift's next single, the undeniably infectious "Our Song," provided the now megastar with her first-ever No. 1 country hit.
Ballerini is a major Swiftie, and this isn't the first time that she has covered one of Swift's songs. She uploaded an acoustic cover of "Delicate" to her Instagram back in 2018, with a caption that read, "Love her as a human but damn do I love her as a songwriter."
The pair have been friends for years, with Swift going so far as to invite Ballerini to sing her XO hit "Love Me Like You Mean It" at the Nashville stop of her 1989 Tour in 2015. At the time, Ballerini described the experience on Twitter as "one of the most surreal and memorable moments of my life."
Friday night marked the first stop of the Jonas Brothers' Remember This Tour, with back-to-back shows in Las Vegas. Ballerini is slotted to open for the pop brothers on an additional 42 dates, with a final performance scheduled at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Oct. 27.
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