Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde have the No. 1 single on country radio with their duet “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” duet. The song, co-written by Pearce and McBryde with Shane McAnally, was released as a single in September from Pearce’s third studio album 29: Written in Stone. It also marks only the second female duet to top the chart in 30 years, following Elle King and Miranda Lambert’s “Drunk.”
Pearce celebrated the achievement while on the road with Kenny Chesney’s Here and Now Tour, posting about the accomplishment on social media: “When [Ashley McBryde] and I were writing ‘Never Wanted To Be That Girl’ with [Shane McAnally], we were just in the moment, thinking about the women we want to be and the way that’s not always how life and love turn out. But nobody ever paused long enough to think about having a #1 record or winning an Academy of Country Music Award. We wanted to shake off an honest mistake, and now here we are with the No. 1 song at Country radio and the ACM trophy for Music Event of the Year. Sometimes out of something bad comes something good. Thank you to everyone who plays Country music, our fans, our record labels, management teams, agents, our bands and everyone in between. Ashley, I am so proud to call you my friend, my sister and I will forever be grateful for this song bringing us together. Gonna go cry for the 100th time!”
“Never Wanted To Be That Girl” is Pearce’s third No. 1 hit, and McBryde’s first No. 1. Said McBryde on Instagram: “First times only happen once. I’ll always remember I was in Leeds, England when I got the news. I’ll always love that Carly and I got to ride this rocket of a song together. I’ll always love that she, Shane and I trusted each other and ourselves to be brutally honest when we wrote it. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.”
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