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It was 2008, and Carly Pearce was feeling lost. As the songstress chased her superstar dreams at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, she missed home, mourned her late grandpa, and craved the unshakeable foundation that she had always found in her home state of Kentucky. So, the aspiring country singer did the only thing she knew could make her feel better.
She got a tattoo.
“I wanted to get some sort of a reminder of the very last thing [my grandpa] ever said to me,” Pearce remembered quietly during an interview with Kentucky Monthly about the tattooed outline of the Bluegrass State on her right wrist. “[My grandpa] wanted me to go to Nashville. And he knew that, once I got there, I was going to make it.”
And make it she did. In the 16 years since she left her beloved hometown of Taylor Mill in Kenton County, Pearce has found her way toward the top of country music’s impressive heap of female vocalists. From her induction into the Grand Ole Opry in 2021 to number one singles such as “Every Little Thing,” “I Hope You’re Happy Now” (with Lee Brice) and “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” (with Ashley McBryde), Pearce is well on her way to cementing her proper place in country music history.
But come Oct. 28, the reigning Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year and four-time Academy of Country Music Award winner will cement her place in the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, as she is honored at a ceremony in Renfro Valley alongside Grand Ole Opry background vocalist Norah Lee Allen, Steel Guitar Hall of Famer Tommy White, blues guitarist and singer Tee Dee Young, “I’m From the Country” hit songwriter Marty Brown, and—posthumously—bluegrass songwriting legend Pete Goble and master guitarist and producer Paul Yandell. “I don’t even know that I feel worthy of it yet,” Pearce admitted of the induction. “I’m still so taken aback by it.”
That’s understandable, as the recognition will forever list Pearce’s name with some of Kentucky’s finest, including Loretta Lynn, Jean Ritchie, The Backstreet Boys, Florence Henderson, Rosemary Clooney, Keith Whitley and Homer Louis “Boots” Randolph.
“Kentucky means everything to me,” continued Pearce, who will headline a series of shows at the iconic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Oct. 26-27. “It’s where I found my love of country music. It’s where my country music dreams started. It’s where I learned so much about who I am as a person. And to be recognized forever in the place that made me who I am is just really overwhelming. Since the age of 12, this is all I have ever wanted.”
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While Pearce has made a living finding the words for the most unspoken of sentiments, the country music hitmaker admitted that she didn’t know how she would possibly express her thankfulness when she is inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. “It reminds me of how I felt right before I was inducted into the [Grand Ole] Opry,” said Pearce, who spent much of this past summer as part of Kenny Chesney’s Here and Now Tour. “I almost didn’t write anything down because I just wanted it to feel authentic in the moment, but I’m going to think about it this time around, just because I feel like this is so special. Not only to me, but to so many people in the state of Kentucky that have helped to make this dream come true for me.”
One of those people is her childhood best friend, Kara Foxx.
“Every time I come through town, she picks me up at the venue, and we take a drive to all the places that I miss,” Pearce said with a laugh. “We’ve done it for years.”
Often, one of the places the two longtime friends visit is the sign that sits at the south end of Taylor Mill on Pride Parkway reminding everyone passing it that they are entering the hometown of a country music star. The sign, which was placed there in early September 2021, was stolen less than a week later but has since been replaced.
“The last time I was in town, [Kara and I] just pulled over and took a picture with that welcome sign,” Pearce remembered of a moment she shared on Instagram. “Since the time we were 12 years old, she has known that this is the life that I have always wanted.”
Allister Ann photo
Pearce grew up on the Kentucky sounds of artists such as Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn and Ricky Skaggs. But perhaps no one inspired her more than the country duo The Judds. Today, Pearce finds inspiration through her friendship with fellow Kentuckian Wynonna Judd. “She is such a pillar of strength,” said Pearce, whose first concert was to see Wynonna and the group BlackHawk at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati when she was 10 years old. “She just serves as such an example about what it means to go through hard things and just tackling them and not letting them take you down … She sends me almost every day some sort of inspirational message that a lot of times I need.”
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The accolades continue to pile up for Pearce. On Nov. 9, she will be up for a slew of awards at the 56th annual Country Music Association Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year, Musical Event of the Year, Single of the Year and Song of the Year—the latter four nominations for the hit “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.”
And if this professional bliss wasn’t enough for the 32-year-old, there is the personal bliss she currently finds alongside boyfriend and former professional baseball player Riley King. “He makes me very, very happy,” said Pearce, who went through a rather public divorce from fellow country artist Michael Ray in 2020. “He really does.”
Still, when life feels too big, and the future seems a tad uncertain, all she needs to do is look to that little reminder forever emblazoned on her wrist.
“This career can get a little crazy at times,” said Pearce, who recently confirmed her collaboration with Kelsea Ballerini and Kelly Clarkson on the song “You’re Drunk, Go Home,” set to be featured on Ballerini’s new album. “It also can be a little bit isolating. And so, sometimes, you just need that reminder that there are a lot of people that love you, and there’s a place that you can always go back to, and it’s the place that made you. That’s Kentucky to me.”