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Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde are filled with gratitude over “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” hitting #1

By Cillea Houghton May 9, 2022 | 3:23 PM


Courtesy of Big Machine Records & Warner Music Nashville

Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde are celebrating their #1 song, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” in numerous ways.

While on the road opening for Kenny Chesney, Carly took a moment to honor the moment by posing in front of her tour bus with “#1” balloons in hand and a smile plastered on her face. She also shared a photo of her and Ashley on a video call, but holding one finger in the air. 

In a caption accompanying the photos, Carly reflects on their writing session with Shane McAnally as they were “thinking about the women we want to be and the way that’s not always how life and love turn out,.

“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,” Carly continues, saying that she’s “proud” to call her duet partner a “friend” and “sister.” “I will forever be grateful for this song bringing us together. Gonna go cry for the 100th time!” 

“First times only happen once,” adds Ashley. “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.” 

“Never” is the second all-female country duet in the past 30 years to top the charts, following Miranda Lambert and Elle King‘s “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home).”  

“Never Wanted to Be that Girl” was also named Music Event of the Year at the ACM Awards. “Never” is Carly’s third #1 single and Ashley’s first. 

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