Carly Pearce

Before she was a chart name, Carly Pearce was a teenager singing bluegrass on records and performing at a theme park in Tennessee. Born Carly Cristyne Slusser in Kentucky in 1990, the American singer-songwriter builds her music from traditional country and a more polished, contemporary pop sheen, a blend that gives her songs both roots and radio polish.

Pearce stepped out of high school at sixteen to perform on Dollywood's Country Crossroads show in Pigeon Forge, then moved to Nashville at nineteen. A developmental deal with Sony Music Nashville fell apart when her producer left the label, and she spent those years working part-time jobs. Her breakthrough came with "Every Little Thing", produced by Busbee and picked up by SiriusXM's The Highway before she signed to Big Machine Records. The song reached number one on Billboard's Country Airplay chart, and her 2021 album 29: Written in Stone followed, the same year she joined the Grand Ole Opry.