Carly Pearce steps into Opry membership with her heroes and friends, Trisha Yearwood and Jeannie Seely
"This is something that nobody can ever take away from you," she said.
Carly Pearce realized a lifelong ambition Tuesday night when she became the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry.
For the induction, Pearce, 31, wore a pink and white ruffled gown she bought online, one her mother wasted no time replicating as a memento.
"Y'all, my mom actually got a Barbie made with a dress that looks like this, and an Opry mic," she told reporters before the show. "Like, literally a Barbie that looks like this is at my house right now. It's pretty awesome."
Introduced by her neighbor and mentor, Opry legend Jeannie Seely, Pearce opened her set with her career-defining hit, "I Hope You're Happy Now," before calling Trisha Yearwood onstage for an impressive duet version of Yearwood's Oscar-nominated "How Do I Live."
Thirty years to the day that Trisha Yearwood's debut, "She's in Love with the Boy," topped the chart, the two-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year presided over her first Opry induction.
Yearwood presented Pearce with the coveted statue -- a miniature version of the iconic Opry mic stand -- which signifies her membership.
A tearful Pearce paid tribute to her late grandparents who helped inspire her love for the country music institution, having earlier expressed what it means to her.
"Singles will come and go, awards will come and go," she said. "The arenas will be full, and then maybe they won't be. But this is something that nobody can ever take away from you."
Pearce then strapped on her guitar to play her new track, "Dear Miss Loretta," before calling out Yearwood and Seely to close out the night.
The three alternately traded lines and harmonized on 1955's "Making Believe," a tribute to country's first female superstar, Kitty Wells.
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