Carly Pearce absolutely slayed the Country Music Association Awards stage when she performed at the show on Nov. 11. Carly sang her multi-nominated hit, “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” at the show. The song is normally a duet with Lee Brice, but due to his coronavirus diagnosis, he was unable to attend the ceremony. Instead, Charles Kelley from Lady A stepped in. Carly rocked a black dress with silver detail as she belted out the track alongside her new duet partner.
Earlier in the night, Carly walked the red carpet in another gorgeous look. Despite the carpet being more low-key than usual at this year’s CMAs, Carly was still shining bright when she showed up in her stunning ensemble. The singer, who styled herself (with help from her mom!) wore a strapless, emerald Retrofete green dress, which featured a slit all the way up one of her legs. The dress was shiny and provided a fun pop of color on the carpet. She styled her hair in loose waves with help from the Hot Tools 24K Gold One Step Blowout & Styler to complete the look.
Hours before the award show, Carly actually won an award for “I Hope You’re Happy Now.” On the Nov. 11 episode of Good Morning America, it was revealed that the song was the winner for Musical Event of the Year! Carly and Lee beat out stars like Justin Bieber, Dan + Shay, Reba McEntire, Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris and more when they secured the win.
The track was also up for Song of the Year, which was won by Maren Morris for “The Bones,” and Music Video of the Year, which Miranda Lamber won for “Bluebird.” Alone, Carly was nominated for New Artist of the Year, as well. Her fellow nominees were Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Ingrid Andress and Morgan Wallen, and Morgan took home the honor. Carly received a nomination in the same category at the show in 2019, as well, but lost to Ashley McBryde.
Amidst the coronavirus quarantine, Carly went through quite a lot. In June, she filed for divorce from her husband Michael Ray, after less than one year of marriage. She went on to release the song “Next Girl” after the split, and told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that this was just the start of a new era for her. “I don’t know how to not be personal,” she admitted. “I think I built my career on being really honest and there’s definitely going to be some more music coming before the end of the year.”