Several months after an emotional victory, Carly Pearce still can’t quite wrap her mind around it. The “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” artist is the reigning Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year, which remains an epic “pinch me” moment for the hit-making singer-songwriter. She reflected in a statement shared by her record label:

“I stare at (the award) quite often. It’s really still hard, even eight months later, to process to you what was happening to my body and my heart in that moment. But it just felt like 31 years of hoping and praying and wishing and working to make country music my life. And that’s something that I think forever will be one of the greatest achievements of my life. But even now, I mean, I clearly almost fell to the ground when it happened, and I still just kinda can’t process it. Maybe one day I’ll process it, but it was so special.”

Pearce tearfully accepted the award during the CMA Awards in November. Shocked, she admitted through joyful sobs, “I really didn’t think this was gonna happen.”

Ashley McBryde, Pearce’s duet partner on “Never Wanted To Be That Girl,” stepped in to help translate, sharing what Pearce “meant to say” when she stepped up to the mic. Pearce composed herself enough to speak, sharing that “country music saved me at a time I needed it, and I just want you guys to know that this is all I’ve ever wanted in the entire world... Thank you so much.”

Pearce will be performing during the 2022 Daytime Stage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival on September 24th. Fans can tune in to stream live via iHeartMedia radio stations throughout the country across more than 150 markets, and watch via an exclusive national television broadcast special on The CW Network in October. Find available tickets here.

Re-live Pearce's emotional CMA win here:

Christa Cooper