In September, Jimboomba singer-songwriter Jessica Holbrok couldn’t wait for the year to end.
After losing her father that month, she was grieving, exhausted and struggling to see how 2025 could turn around.
But just months later, she found herself backstage at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, guitar in hand, singing alongside her idol – US country star Kelsea Ballerini.
The unforgettable moment came about after Ms Holbrok posted a video on TikTok about her love for Ms Ballerini’s music and her dream of meeting the artist.
The video went viral in days, attracting tens of thousands of views and hundreds of comments from strangers tagging the singer in hopes she would see it.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting that kind of response,” Ms Holbrok said.
The video reached far beyond TikTok. Ms Ballerini saw it on Instagram, commenting publicly before reaching out to Ms Holbrok privately.
“She said she’d love to ‘hug my neck’ in Brisbane and told me she was DM-ing me,” Ms Holbrok said.
From there, everything moved quickly. Ms Ballerini’s team contacted Ms Holbrok and invited her backstage ahead of the singer’s Brisbane show.
“It was a complete whirlwind,” Ms Holbrok said.
“I was honestly lost for words for days.”
But the most emotional moment was still to come.
Ms Holbrok asked if they could sing a song together that held deep personal meaning: her late father’s wedding song, which is one of Ms Ballerini’s older tracks.
When the singer admitted she couldn’t remember the chords, Ms Holbrok offered to help.
“She just handed me her guitar and said, ‘You play it,’” Ms Holbrok said.
“I was in total shock. I got to play her guitar and sing with her. I never expected that.”
Ms Holbrok said the moment helped her process a year filled with grief and uncertainty.
“My dad told me to go out and live my life, chase my dream and not be afraid,” she said.
“This made me realise it’s going to be okay. Life’s good.”
Ms Holbrok has been performing since she was 12, and released her first EP at 16.
She’s had a brief hiatus, but said is now inspired to “put my foot down” and go for it.
“I’m going to be in the [music] industry – this is me and this is what I want to do.”
She said meeting her music idol was a great way to “top off a not-so-great year”.
