Like many before her, Carly Pearce moved to Nashville with a dream. Her road to success was far from smooth, signing and promptly losing a record deal with Sony. Pearce’s big break finally came in 2017 with her single “Every Little Thing.” Throughout it all, Carly Pearce couldn’t have asked for a better mentor — “Miss Country Soul” herself, Jeannie Seely. Following Seely’s death Aug. 1 at age 85, Pearce honored the woman who became her guiding light in country music.
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Sharing a carousel of photos of the two women together, Pearce, 35, reflected on living down the street from the “A Wanderin’ Man” legend in her early 20s.
“She quickly took me under her wing, inviting me to go backstage at the Opry— knowing it was my dream to play there,” Pearce wrote. “Since then, she has become one of my biggest mentors and dearest friends. She celebrated my successes, let me cry on her back porch in private & helped welcome me into the Grand Ole Opry family.”
“I can’t quite put into words what this woman means to me, the opry & country music… but I know there will be a hole in my heart forever,” said the four-time ACM Award winner.
What Carly Pearce Promised Jeannie Seely Before Her Death
Back in 2021, Jeannie Seely helped welcome Carly Pearce into the Grand Ole Opry alongside Trisha Yearwood. That night, three generations of women in country music paid tribute to a fourth with a haunting rendition of Kitty Wells’ 1955 classic “Makin’ Believe.”
“Let me be the first to say welcome home to the Grand Ole Opry,” Seely told Pearce ahead of the performance, “’cause it’s home now.”
On social media, an emotional Pearce thanked Seely “for your guidance, your wit, your talents & your shine.” Then, she vowed to carry on the indomitable spirit that the Opry’s most frequent flyer brought to Nashville in the ’60s—an era when “women were still expected to portray the submissive country sweetheart.”
“I whispered in her ear this week that I promised to keep the sparkles in the circle and her legacy in lights- and I promise to do that,” Pearce wrote. “I love you forever, Jeannie.”
It seems that the miniskirt has officially found its new bearer.
Featured image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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