ABC/Jeff NeiraThe Chainsmokers have scored hits by teaming with female singers like Daya, Emily Warren, Phoebe Ryan, ROZES and, of course, Halsey. But for their latest hit, “This Feeling,” they went outside the pop/EDM world, working with chart-topping country star Kelsea Ballerini. According to Kelsea, their collabo came about because they were tired of her “harassing” them.
“I met the guys two years at the Grammys,” Kelsea tells ABC Radio. “I covered ‘Closer’ all during [one of my] tour[s], and just kept saying that my favorite collaboration that I wanted to do was The Chainsmokers.”
She laughs: “And then finally, they were, I think, probably just like, ‘I’m tired of her harassing me!'”
According to The Chainsmokers’ Drew Pall, the fact that Kelsea was covering “Closer” on tour put her on their radar.
“We had kinda kept that in the back of our minds, like ‘O.K., maybe someday we’ll do a song with her,'” he tells ABC Radio. “And we kinda waited for the right one and I think we have it.”
Kelsea certainly thinks they do. She put “This Feeling” on the deluxe version of her album Unapologetically, which came out in October.
“I love the song. I mean ‘This Feeling,’ is all about following your heart, which is…the whole album that I made, that’s what it’s about,” Kelsea explains. “So it really made sense…and we’re friends.”
Kelsea is also friendly with Halsey. Just last week, she posted an Instagram video of the two of them together, drinking and singing the country hit “Leave the Pieces,” by The Wreckers, Michelle Branch‘s short-lived country duo. Kelsea, Halsey and The Chainsmokers all performed on Sunday night’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on ABC.
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