A few days before the broadcast of the 6th Australian CMC Awards 2016, which were shown on the Country Music Channel, which belongs to the Foxtel group, it was proudly announced on their homepage: "LOOK OUT Keith Urban. Australian country music star Morgan Evans is on his way to becoming our next international superstar."
At that time 30-year old Australian Morgan Evans had not only released a couple of EPs already, but also his debut album in 2014 by the same name, which went straight to number 1 on the Australian country album charts and reached a respectable number 20 on the national all genre album chart.
Yet, it was going to become a different success story than everybody would have bet. Or as Scronin of The Courier Mail expressed it a year later: "Country music fans didn't know it at the time, but during the broadcast of the 2016 CMC Music Awards they were watching a romance blossom."
Because the awards show was not only presented by Morgan Evans (who by the way did not receive an award that year), but also by 23-years old Kelsea Ballerini, who had been flown in all the way from Nashville. Just like him, she was considered one of the most hopeful new talents, as the first 2 singles from her debut album had already reached number 1 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart in the US.
The sparks that flew backstage after the show between them lead to Morgan Evans moving to Nashville subsequently and Kelsea Ballerini eventually announcing on her social media channels: "This morning, 9 months and 13 days later, he got down on one knee in the kitchen while I was burning pancakes and asked me to marry him. Loving him has been the greatest gift of my life. And now I get to do it for life."
In the spring of 2017 Warner Music Nashville took over his Australian Warner record contract.
And on December 2, 2017 the ferry tale came full circle, when the couple got married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
In the fall of 2018 Morgan Evans released his first full length studio album
for Warner Music Nashville titled "Things That We Drink To",
which reached the top-10 (number 9) on the
Billboard Top Country Album Chart. The single 'Kiss Somebody' from the album got to number 20 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart and gained platinum status.
Meanwhile Kelsea Ballerini had released her second studio album and achieved another two number-1 hits, bringing them up to four! At a time when hits by female country artists were rare, this made her one of the most successful (female) artists in the genre.
In October of 2020 they moved into their first mutual house. "Yesterday we moved out of our first place together. Almost 3 years of marriage in there. So many great memories. Grateful for every one", Morgan Evans wrote on Instagram.
It all sounded like one happy end story! At least until August 29, 2022, when fans had to read the unthinkable on the Instagram page of Kelsea Ballerini: "This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce. This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth, and effort that ultimately has come to an end. It's hard to find the words here...but I feel extremely grateful for the years of marriage to Morgan and hopeful for the next seasons."
According to internal sources from People.com - the couple had been in therapy for several years: "They've been working on their marriage for a very long time. They gave it their best go but unfortunately arrived at the decision to formally separate."
Morgan Evans used the following words on his Instagram page: "I am very sad to confirm that after almost 5 years of marriage, Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise but sadly it is not."
At the end of September 2022, just 4 short weeks later,
Morgan Evans performed in his home
country at the CMC Rocks festival near Brisbane in front of 22,000
fans. During his performance he sat down at the piano and sang an emotional
new ballad by the title of 'Over For You'. After initial
fan-recordings
surfaced, Warner Music Nashville officially released the song on
October 7, 2022 (from a second live performance in Melbourne).
Aside from Morgan Evans, the song lists Geoff Warburton (Grammy-Award
winning Canadian songwriter, who had written among others for
Shawn Mendes), Madison Love (Pop-songwriter from LA) and
Tim Sommers (renowned pop-producer and songwriter, also known as
One Love) as songwriters.
Billboard.com
wrote about the performance:
"Following the performance, [Morgan Evans] lowered his head to the piano
for a moment, then rose to his feet and seemed to wipe a tear from his eyes
before giving a slight smile at the crowd."
One cannot say how autobiographical the lyrics really are. Without a doubt however it shines as a highly emotional performance on a topic that probably many can either relate to or feel glad, that they don't have to.
How many times did you say you loved me,
when it wasn't true,
I'm just wondering
how long as it been over for you?
what do you tell yourself,
was it something I was missing
or is there someone else?
It kills me to know
that this house ain't a home,
you don't wanna stay, no.
but right now I don't know.
You used to tell me everything
and this one hurts the most.
It would be easier if I hated you
but I still miss the person
that I thought I knew.
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