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Kelsea Ballerini shared a photo of the bouquet of flowers and the heartwarming note she received from fellow singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson following the 2024 CMT Music Awards, which took place on Sunday evening (April 7) at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Ballerini returned to solo host the show and took the stage to deliver the debut performance of her reimagined version of “Love Me Like You Mean It,” putting an updated spin on one of the earliest hits of her career a decade after its release. Ballerini and Wilson — who took the stage to perform “Country’s Cool Again” and to join the tribute to Toby Keith — were also among the evening’s most-nominated artists.
The “Heart Like A Truck” star wrote in her note to Ballerini: “Kelsea, you were the ultimate host last night. Congratulations!! We’re so lucky to experience the love and light you put into this world. Sending you lots of love sister! Xo. LW.” Ballerini shared a photo of the note, propped up among the flowers, on her Instagram story on Tuesday (April 9). She wrote, “what. a. woman.,” tagging Wilson and adding three red heart emojis over the photo.
Ballerini and Wilson were part of the star-studded lineup at this year’s show, along with Jason Aldean, Dasha, Bailey Zimmerman, Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Little Big Town with Sugarland, Megan Moroney, NEEDTOBREATHE with Jordan Davis, Old Dominion with Megan Moroney, Parker McCollum with Brittney Spencer, Sam Hunt, and Trisha Yearwood, who accepted the first-ever June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award. CMT included a special performance in honor of late country legend Toby Keith, who died earlier this year after a battle with stomach cancer. He was 62. The tribute included Brooks & Dunn, Sammy Hagar and Lainey Wilson, with special appearances by Roger Clemens, Lukas Nelson and Riley Green.