Before she was Carly Pearce the country star, Carly Pearce was the backup singer for Pretty Little Liars' Lucy Hale when she dabbled in country music.

In 2014, Hale performed with Pearce at her side on the Honda Stage for an iHeartRadio special. She sang a few original songs, as well as this cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" — you'll notice a harmonizing Pearce at the beginning of the clip, although her hair was a bit shorter then.

Ironically, before landing the gig working with Hale, Pearce was a performer at Parton's Dollywood theme park. Shortly thereafter she signed a short-lived record deal with Sony, but when her A&R rep was fired, she was also let go.

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Hale always knew Pearce was destined for something bigger — when they met, she asked her, "Why are you singing backup for me? I YouTubed you last night, and I don't understand," Pearce recalls in a 2018 Cosmopolitan interview.

Pearce got the gig, obviously, and moved to Los Angeles, touring with Hale for three months. The "Every Little Thing" hitmaker has Hale to thank for helping her regain confidence, and soon enough Pearce was cutting her own songs while on the road, releasing a single independently.

That was enough to catch the attention of the major country record labels — Pearce ended up singing with Big Machine Records. "Every Little Thing" is her first No. 1 single as a solo country music artist.

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