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Every night at the Grand Ole Opry is magical. It's the place where every country singer wants to play. An invitation to become a member of the sacred family is a bucket list item for any country singer too.
Carly Pearce has performed there plenty of times and was officially inducted last year. She returned to the sacred circle on the Opry stage last night with a heartfelt performance of her song "Dear Miss Loretta," a masterpiece that pays homage to Loretta Lynn. You can find the song on Carly's latest album, 29: Written In Stone.
Before her performance, Carly explained.
“We absolutely lost one of the greatest that there ever was and will be and as I stand here tonight I feel overwhelmed with just the legacy and the beauty that she is and she was. And she heard me, which is quite crazy to me. I played this song on the Opry stage I debuted it, just like I’m going to do it tonight. Loretta happened to be watching the live stream of the Grand Ole Opry and heard me sing this song and I’ve never played this for anybody publicly, but I felt like tonight standing in the Opry stage and in the circle that the honky-tonk Angel, which she is now officially a honky-tonk angel, that maybe she wants me to do this. So, this is a message that I got from Loretta Lynn last year.”
She held her phone to the microphone and the Opry audience heard Loretta's sweet voice message.
“Hi Carly, this is Loretta honey, I’m laying here in bed just taking it easy and I’m fixing to get up to wash my face and maybe comb my hair. I don’t know, I ain’t got no place to go, have I? Anyway I love your song, thank you sweetheart. I love you honey. Hey, come and see me sometime!”
Carly then told the crowed that she had listened to that message a lot throughout the day and that she was going to sing the song she wrote for her.
Carly has been very vocal about her admiration for Loretta Lynn. Her grandmother introduced Carly to the Honk Tonk Angel's music. Last year before she debuted the song to the Opry crowd, she credited Loretta and her music for giving her the strength and courage to write her truth.
Just last week, Carly was in Atlanta to play 94.9 The Bull's Girls With Guitars show at Variety Playhouse. The annual show raises money for Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer, a local non-profit that has raised over $1.5 million dollars toward the fight against breast cancer. Carly joined Elle King, Callista Clark, Kassi Ashton and Caitlin Smith on stage for the sold out acoustic show.
She blew the crowd away with her songs and the stories behind why she wrote them. Carly is the reigning CMA and ACM Female Vocalist of the Year. She's also nominated for five CMA Awards this year