Kelsea Ballerini Brings Out Drag Race Stars in CMT Award Performance

Not only did Kelsea Ballerini cohost the 2023 CMT Music Awards alongside Kane Brown, but she also delivered a powerful performance featuring fan-favorites from the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise.

In the past few years, conservatives have been pushing anti-drag and anti-trans bills in several states to launch their political campaigns and reinforce homophobic and transphobic agendas. Unfortunately, certain country music stars have aligned themselves with those viewpoints, but there are also artists who are pushing back in an effort to promote acceptance, inclusion, and love.

During her performance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, Ballerini sang “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” and brought out Drag Race queens Manila Luzon, Kennedy Davenport, Jan, and Olivia Lux to join her on the stage. Overall, this was a beautiful display of a country music star firmly standing with the LGBTQ+ community and showing that there shouldn’t be any room for queerphobic bigotry in 2023.

Watch Kelsea Ballerini’s performance at the 2023 CMT Music Awards below.