Carly Pearce Sets Record Straight On Rumored 'Shade' Against Maren Morris

Carly Pearce set the record straight after some apparent speculation that the Kentucky-born singer-songwriter was throwing “shade” at Maren Morris.

Pearce responded to a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday morning (March 4). The post appeared to allege a feud between Pearce and Morris, particularly with a collaboration between Pearce and Ryan Hurd on the horizon. Morris, 33, and Hurd, 37, finalized their divorce earlier this year after five years of marriage.

However, Pearce, 33, clarified that there’s nothing going on between her and the “Circles Around This Town” star.

“Okay. Since I have seen this all over, I figured I would respond,” she wrote in her reply on X on Monday, more than one week after the original post. “Ryan has a been a friend of mine for over 10 yrs. I was asked by my label to record this song with him for the [Tom] Petty tribute and of course I said yes because he’s a great artist. STOP making something out of nothing!”

Pearce and Hurd are teaming up on a collaboration on the forthcoming, star-studded tribute album, Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty. The legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist died in October 2017. He was 66. Recently, Gravel & Gold artist Dierks Bentley released his reimagined version of Petty’s “American Girl,” which will appear on the album.

“Petty’s southern roots shined through across his songwriting and storytelling,” Bentley said when his single released on February 23. “He might not have ever been considered as Country but you can’t go into a bar in Nashville without hearing this song. It is one of the greatest songs in a life’s work of great American songs. The spirit of this woman, the idea of such relentless hope – and disappointment – ignites such a spark. [Producer] Jon Randall and I were driven to make that feeling of American roots stand tall.”

Bentley took the stage on Friday (March 1) at the 2024 Country Radio Seminar (CRS) in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, where he performed his take on “American Girl.” Pearce also performed that day, teaming up with Lady A’s Charles Kelley on her duet featuring Chris Stapleton, “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” and delivering the debut live rendition of “Hummingbird,” the title track of her forthcoming album.

Pearce announced on Friday that her next full-length studio album would make its long-awaited debut on June 14. She released the title track the same day.

“The last few years have been a season of loss and growth, of healing and happiness. A belief that if I did the inner work, I would rebuild myself stronger than I was before, and a knowing that I have done some living and will always be unapologetic about it,” Pearce wrote as she posted her announcement on Friday morning. “These 14 songs incapsulate my confidence that there is light on the other side of darkness and my true love of country music.

“When you hear this album — Wherever you are on your journey, I hope it shows you that pain can be a lesson that shows you just how strong you are and what you truly deserve,” she continued. “That we can all find the ‘hummingbird’ in the midst of whatever we’re going through.”