Superstars Carly Pearce and Lee Brice are up for two awards together during this year's Academy of Country Music Awards celebration, broadcasting on Sunday, April 18.
In addition, Carly is breaking off with her own nomination for Female Artist of the Year! Audacy's Katie Neal was thrilled to get a chance to speak with the stellar singer/songwriters before the weekend's big event.
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Carly says she's "still floating on cloud nine," over the nominations. "I think I will well off into the whole year," she admits, beaming with excitement. Carly will also be taking the stage with her "I Hope You're Happy Now" partner Lee Brice during the ceremony. It will mark the first time they've presented the song, nominated for both Single and Music Event of the Year, together with a full band backing them. Fans will remember Carly and Lee were supposed to perform their hit back in November at the CMAs, but Brice had contracted COVID-19 and was forced to bow out. "I'm very excited to finally get to to celebrate this song with him," Carly says, now that he's got antibodies and is ready to go. "Lee, no more COVID!"
"I never miss the ACM Awards," Carly says. "All of the ladies, I just dreamt of standing in their shoes one day, and to think that I'm standing in their shoes now is just a really full-circle moment for me." While she's proud of all three nominations this year; "This song is my story, so it's extra special that 'I Hope You're Happy Now' is getting so much recognition," she tells Katie. "But I have to say, being nominated for 'Female Artist of the Year' is just a victory in its own right for me and just feels like I already won."
Also joining us from backstage at the ACMs, Lee Brice tells Katie he's "pretty pumped" and excited to continue to be a part of Carly's "I Hope You're Happy Now" story this Sunday. "I feel more blessed and kind of honored to be a part of it, than the fact that I created it -- because I didn't -- but I did get to put my voice on it and be a part of it. So, it makes me feel extremely blessed to be here and ready to rock!" Already a fan of Carly's before getting the call to sing with her, Lee says he was interested in the project "from the very beginning," but as soon as he heard the demo, "I was like, 'duuuuuh! I'm in, period.' It just reminded me of this classic Country duet. Like a true duet."
"We've only performed it together a few times," he says after Katie congratulated him on his COVID-kicking antibodies. "I've never actually gotten to sing on the ACM Awards. I sang a piece of a song one time, like ten years ago... but this will be my first full performance. I'm ready to come out there and do my best to kick out the footlights!"
Related
Some of this year's ACM winners have already been announced! Join us for complete coverage of the 2021 ACM Awards -- broadcasting live on Sunday, April 18 at 8PM ET on CBS --and stay tuned for more conversations with your favorite artists right here on Audacy.
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