Carly Pearce Loved Working With One of Her ‘Real Friends’ on Her Kelsea Ballerini Collaboration
Kelsea Ballerini's new Subject to Change album includes a collaboration with not one, but two powerhouse female vocalists: Carly Pearce and Kelly Clarkson.
The song is called "You're Drunk, Go Home," and during a recent conversation with Taste of Country, Pearce admitted that the drinks were, indeed, flowing during their recording session — but Ballerini wasn't the one who was imbibing.
"Well, she was hungover, which was funny, so she wasn't drinking, and I was drinking enough for both of us," Pearce jokes. "So, it was a funny thing."
But all jokes aside, the singer goes on to say that she loved being a part of the song, which was the first collaboration she's ever done for another artist's project.
"I obviously love collaborations, with all the collaborations that I've asked other artists to do, but this was the first time that somebody in our industry came to me and wanted to collaborate with me. So that was exciting for me," Pearce notes.
"I love Kelsea. I've loved Kelsea for years," she continues. "...You have very few real friends in this industry, and she's one of mine."
Longtime fans of Pearce and Ballerini know that the two artists came of age in the music business together, and attended some of the same industry events and mixers when they were first starting out. More recently, they've continued to support each other through their respective highs and lows, both career-wise and in their personal lives. Pearce has said that after her 2020 divorce from Michael Ray, Ballerini encouraged her to open up about the experience in her music; Pearce's wildly successful 29: Written in Stone album does just that.
Clarkson, the other artist who lends her voice to "You're Drunk, Go Home," began her career earlier than Ballerini and Pearce began theirs, so she isn't a peer in quite the same way, but she is a performer that the two younger artists both look up to immensely.
"[Ballerini] and I are both fangirls for Kelly and we love Kelly, so to get to do this and team up at this time in all three of our lives is so fun," Pearce continues. "I don't think Kelsea could have picked two more perfect women to do this song with her."
Ballerini teased "You're Drunk, Go Home" as a fun, twangy romp, and Pearce concurs: "It's a good old-fashioned, fun honky tonk song," she says.