Following her divorce from fellow country music artist Michael Ray in 2020, Carly Pearce has openly discussed the separation and its aftermath — particularly on her 2021 EP 29 and its subsequent album 29: Written in Stone.
Tracks such as “What He Didn’t Do” and “Diamondback” explored the emotional remnants of the breakup. In a recent interview on Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast, Pearce emphasized that the themes she wrote about in the 29 projects were drawn from her personal experiences.
The former couple first met in 2018 and tied the knot in 2019, which Pearce described as happening too quickly. “I thought he was so cute. I’d heard he’s the nicest guy in the world,” Pearce reminisces. “I invited him to my [Billboard Country Airplay] No. 1 party for ‘Every Little Thing.’ Looking back, it was a hot and heavy lust. It wasn’t love. It was just passionate.”
She continued, “I got married to go the distance. When I married him, it was for the right reasons. I thought I was doing the right thing by getting married before turning 29. But we didn’t have real conversations, and we didn’t truly know each other. We were living a life that wasn’t really reality. I realized on my wedding night that I shouldn’t have married him. The best thing that happened to me was COVID because it allowed me to process everything privately. I likely would have stayed in it longer if I could have avoided facing it; I felt embarrassed when it happened…and heartbroken.”
Pearce filed for divorce less than a year after their wedding. “It wasn’t what I signed up for,” she reflected on her brief marriage. “It just wasn’t the marriage that I know I deserved. I realized this very quickly. We were only married for eight months, and a lot happened that made it clear to me this just wasn’t a marriage.”
When asked about infidelity in the marriage, Pearce stated that her 2022 Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit “What He Didn’t Do” “wasn’t just written out of thin air… It wasn’t good.”
However, Pearce also expressed gratitude for the lessons learned from her marriage. “Thank you, because you taught me how strong I am. You put me through experiences that have made me better now. And I don’t wish him any ill will. I’m just glad I’m not in that situation anymore,” she said.
When Bunnie Xo inquired about a potential “Jolene” in her situation — referencing the titular mistress from Dolly Parton’s classic — without naming anyone specifically, Pearce simply remarked, “Let’s just say I’m not a fan of her. I’m not a fan of him either. I could have done so much more than I did.”
Pearce also mentioned how she had hoped for straightforward answers during her marriage.
“It’s tough to think that… just leave me instead. I kept quiet for so long because I felt like I had to. And I’m not here to expose anyone; I don’t care anymore. When you’re faced with someone who represented a really dark time for you, and they go and blow it up on social media, you think, ‘I don’t know if he informed her we were divorced.’ All I know is… that was not an enjoyable situation for me. What’s harder is that at the end of it all, you want someone who will look you in the eye and say, ‘Yeah, I did this.’ … But I never received any of that clarity. I had to piece together many things afterward, but they were facts.”
A few months after news of the divorce became public, fans began speculating that Ray was dating Tyler Reese Tritt (daughter of country singer Travis Tritt) after photos surfaced of them together.
During the Opry 100 celebration earlier this year, which was broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Pearce and Tritt made headlines when Pearce performed “Jolene” during the televised special. When some online commenters noticed that the cameras didn’t show Tyler Reese Tritt until after Pearce’s performance, Pearce herself commented, saying, “Aw don’t you worry; I looked right at her.”
Last year, Pearce followed up her 29 projects with Hummingbird, featuring the Chris Stapleton collaboration “We Don’t Fight Anymore” and “Truck on Fire.” “We Don’t Fight Anymore” received a Grammy Award nomination (Pearce, alongside Ashley McBryde, previously won a Grammy for best country duo/group performance for “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”). The song was also nominated for musical event of the year at the CMA Awards.
In 2023, Ray released the single “Spirits and Demons,” featuring Meghan Patrick, along with the EP Dive Bars & Broken Hearts.
