Carly Pearce is well on her way to having another No. 1 hit. After the success of her chart-topping “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” duet with Ashley McBryde — which also won the pair a Grammy Award — the Kentucky native now has a Top 5 hit, with her current single, “What He Didn’t Do.” The song is from her 29: Written in Stone album, released in 2021.
Pearce wrote “What He Didn’t Do” with Ashley Gorley and Emily Shackleton, while still reeling from the end of her brief marriage to Michael Ray.
“It was actually the second song that we wrote in the day, which sometimes that’s the one that really hits,” Pearce recalled in a video shared on YouTube. “I remember driving away and thinking, ‘Wow, I think this song is special.’”
Still, it wasn’t until Pearce played the song at a writers round, and somebody posted the video, that she realized the potential power of “What He Didn’t Do.”
“I’ve never had a song that just organically, socially — people asked for it in everything I do, whether it’s online or in a tweet or in a DM, or if I’m doing an interview,” Pearce shared. “Radio stations have asked about it. I think that’s the power of — people may think that I write too much of my story, but for me, that’s my duty, and I feel like when I’m writing my story, I’m writing other people’s story, and this song proves it.”
The Grand Ole Opry member is working on her next album, one she says will be more accurate about where she is in life now, including happily dating Riley King.
“I just don’t think I can be 29 and divorced forever,” Pearce tells Everything Nash. “I’m really excited about it. I write from where I am in my life. So I think that you’re gonna see this new season of life for me, and more confidence in the kind of country music that I make, and really just waving my flag in that.”
29: Written in Stone was vulnerable in sharing her broken heart. Now, Pearce is ready to share her relationship with King, and the highs and lows that came with entering a new relationship.
“I think you’ll see the beauty of falling in love again, but also the hardships that come with trusting somebody again, and that push and pull of what that looks like,” Pearce says. “So I think it’s gonna be just, you’ll know exactly where I’m at in my life.”
Pearce’s 29: Written in Stone (Live From Music City) will be out on March 24. The album includes “Never Wanted To Be That Girl,” along with collaborations with Lee Brice and Matthew West,
Pearce is currently on the road with Blake Shelton, serving as the opening act on his Back To The Honky Tonk Tour. Find music and tour dates at CarlyPearce.com.
