Carly Pearce hosted a Billboard Live At-Home performance Wednesday (April 29) to raise money for Direct Relief, which equips medical workers around the world.
With cheetah print drapes and twinkling lights framing the bright country star, Pearce’s intimate show aesthetic transmitted comfortably from her camera. Her megawatt smile indicated how happy she was about her new single with Lee Brice “I Hope You’re Happy Now” claiming a top 10 slot on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, as the “best birthday present” keeps up its hot streak at No. 8 for a second consecutive week (chart dated May 2). That two-fold gift also comes with a gold certification as of April 16.
But that’s not the main song her fans have been flocking to for alletion during the coronavirus-induced quarantine. Although “It Won’t Always Be Like This,” which is off her eponymous sophomore album she released in February, felt personal to Pearce at the time she wrote it, its message expanded as universal. “I wrote this song just kind of about things that happened to me and that everything is for a reason,” she said. “A lot of people have reached out to me and say that they can relate to this song because of COVID, so hopefully, this song will speak to you.”
And for one fan who commented in the middle of the song, “It Won’t Always Be Like This” recently helped guide her through grief. “Love this song. My Dad passed on Easter and this song is so beautiful it reminds me of him,” she wrote.
Before the 30-year-old singer-songwriter can go “running to a stage” with Old Dominion for their tour after quarantine ends, she capped her set with her first No. 1 hit “Every Little Thing,” which topped Billboard‘s Country Airplay and Country Digital Song Sales charts back in Nov. 2017. “You guys made this song my very first No. 1 song and changed my life with it,” she said in thanksgiving.
Watch Pearce’s entire Billboard Live At-Home below, and donate to Direct Relief here.