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NBC Insider People's Choice Country Awards

Carly Pearce's Twang Is Hypnotic in Her First-Ever PCCAs Performance

She sang her hit "Country Music Made Me Do It" and sounded amazing. 

By Elizabeth Logan
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Blame it on the twang. Carly Pearce's "Country Music Made Me Do It" blames the singer's problems on the musical genre's tropes, but in a way that, you can tell, she loves and wouldn't change for the world.

How to Watch

Watch the People’s Choice Country Awards on NBC and Peacock

Between the big hair and the sparkly cowgirl boots, Pearce is every inch the personification of a country-pop star, and her performance of "Country Music Made Me Do It" at the 2023 People's Country Choice Awards will make you a fan of her, the song, and the whole country lifestyle. Check it out, below. 

What to know about "Country Music Made Me Do It"

Carly Pearce performs on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon episode 1846

The upbeat number lists the genre's conventions as a woman's myriad mistakes, casting the allure of country as a seductive but dangerous lifestyle. From "drinking whiskey" to letting the "wrong boy kiss me," it was country all along.

"First time that I thought about cheating, first time that I blamed my dad, that time that I changed my last name, that time that I changed it back" Pearce sings. 

RELATED: Reba McEntire & Rascal Flatts Are Perfect Together Singing This Beautiful Love Song

Through it all, Pearce croons, music helped her as much as it may have hurt her. "Got me drunk and got me through it, A little heartbreak 80-proof, Over three chords and the truth," she says, referencing the famous Harlan Howard motto about the beautiful simplicity of country music: all that's needed for a great song is three chords and the truth.

RELATED: Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood & Dolly Parton's Voices Combined Is a Country Dream

Pearce released the song in August 2023. "'Country Music Made Me Do It”' is the essence of this next chapter for me. I wrote this song as an autobiographical anthem, but I can’t wait to hear the ways YOUR story has been influenced by country music," Pearce shared on Instagram when the song came out.

She later sang the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Carly Pearce sang with Kelsea Ballerini and Kelly Clarkson at the 2022 CMA Awards

The three women told it like it is to a guy who's no good with a performance of "You're Drunk, Go Home." “Yeah, I know you're a Virgo, that's the third time you told me. Just 'cause I am too doesn't mean that you know me,” Pearce crooned in her solo. Just another thing country music made her do. 

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