Buckle up. There’s drama to unpack.
Country music loves a good breakup song. But when the breakup involves two artists, a celebrity ex-boyfriend and now a radio host, things get messy fast.
This week, Australian country star Morgan Evans found himself back in the spotlight after clips from a recent interview with US radio personality Bobby Bones started circulating online.
In the conversation, Evans reflected on the aftermath of his very public split from Kelsea Ballerini and how the experience shaped the music he’s been releasing since.
Evans and Ballerini finalised their divorce in 2022, but the breakup has continued to echo through both of their discographies. Ballerini unpacked her side of the story in her confessional Rolling Up The Welcome Mat project, while Evans responded with his own emotionally raw track Over For You.
Evans’ upcoming album Steel Town set for release on March 20, feature a couple songs such as Letting You Go and Forgiving You which also allude to the former relationship.
Fast forward to now, and the internet is once again spiralling.
This is where Chase Stokes enters the chat. Ballerini’s high-profile relationship with the Outer Banks star had been a regular fixture at Ballerini’s shows and on her social feeds, until the off-again-on-again relationship came to a close again recently.
Stokes came out unjustly swinging and left a - now deleted - comment on Bones’ Instagram saying “This is about the most pathetic excuse of masculinity ive ever seen. Get a f*cking life.”
Woah.
Evans, for his part, has mostly taken the high road publicly. In interviews, he’s leaned into the idea that songwriting was his way of processing the split.
Not the first time Evans has shied away from Ballerini fall-out drama, he addressed the incident with his own mic drop moment.
A series of hot pictures flaunting his fit rig and extracurricular activities like lifting fridges, woodchopping, fixing cars, the usual day-to-day musician activities, he simply captioned "Feeling pretty masculine today.”
Country music thrives on storytelling, and this particular story has had more chapters than most.
Although the fallout wasn’t ideal. We’re kind of living for the drama of it all.
Morgan Evans… 10/10. No notes. All class.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
