CURRENT SINGLE: “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” w/ Ashley McBryde
The morning the 2021 CMA nominations were announced, before Carly Pearce learned she was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for 29, he was anxiously lying in bed with her little dog June, and she says, “I was refreshing the CMA website like a mad woman.”
Her manager called her before the nominations were posted with the news of her two nominations, and Carly says, “I squealed so loud that I scared my puppy June to death.”
“I mean, of course you hope and you pray that you get recognized,” says Carly. “And I’ve obviously had a really wonderful, I guess, year at this point on awards shows, just feeling like, oh my gosh! I’m a part of these things that I’ve dreamt of my whole life. But to be recognized in such big categories is just crazy.”
This is the first time Carly has ever been nominated for Album of the Year on any awards show, and she says, “To be the only female nominated on an album that when I started that season of my life felt so overwhelming that I kinda wanted to crawl in a hole and die, to now fast forward a year and a half and go, oh wow. Not only were you okay, you were creating something that was going to be your best work yet and you didn’t even know it. At all. That one means everything.”
This is Carly’s first time being nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year at the CMA Awards and the feeling, she says, is indescribable. “I have wanted to see my name in these categories forever,” she says. “So, just to think that your peers and the town felt that you should be one of the five – I’ve always wanted to be one of the five. I felt that way at the ACM‘s. I was like oh my gah, I’m one of the five. How did this happen? I mean, this is really, I’m not just saying this, but this is the things that as a little girl I dreamt of and I’m just so happy.“
You can see if Carly is able to take home one or both of the trophies she’s up for, plus watch her performance with Ashley McBryde of “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” when the CMA Awards air live from Nashville at 8 ET/7 CT on ABC.
Carly Pearce – found out CMA noms :18
“I was laying in bed with my dog June and I was refreshing the CMA website like a mad woman. And finally, my manager called me at like 7:01, and I was like, ‘Get away from me. I’m waiting.’ And he was like, ‘I have to already tell you, I see it! I see it! And he told me, and I squealed so loud that I scared my puppy June to death.”
Carly Pearce – 2021 CMA noms :18
“I mean, of course you hope and you pray that you get recognized. And I’ve obviously had a really wonderful, I guess year at this point, on awards shows, just feeling like, oh my gosh! I’m a part of these things that I’ve dreamt of my whole life. But to be recognized in such big categories is just crazy.”
Carly Pearce – CMA Album 2021 :25
“It’s my first time ever to be nominated for Album of the Year. To be the only female nominated on an album that when I started that season of my life felt so overwhelming that I kinda wanted to crawl in a hole and die, to now fast forward a year and a half and go, oh wow. Not only were you okay, you were creating something that was going to be your best work yet and you didn’t even know it. At all. That one means everything.”
Carly Pearce – CMA Female 2021 :30
“Oh my gosh, it was really indescribable. I have wanted to see my name in these categories forever, and this is my first time to be nominated for female at the CMA‘s. And so just to think that your peers and the town felt that you should be one of the five – I’ve always wanted to be one of the five. I felt that way at the ACM‘s. I was like oh my God, I’m one of the five. How did this happen? I mean, this is really, I’m not just saying this, but this is the things that as a little girl I dreamt of and I’m just so happy.“