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Carly Pearce released her highly-anticipated duet with fellow country star Riley Green on Friday (March 13), after posting a few steamy teasers.
The two artists teamed up on “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” depicting a backsliding couple that can’t seen to stay away from one another, even if being together is crazy. Pearce revealed Green as her duet partner in a clip she simply captioned, “baby isn’t doing this the definition of insane.” Commenters on TikTok and Instagram said “my jaw is on the FLOOR,” “we ain’t ready,” “didn’t expect this one,” “I didn’t see this on my bingo card,” “stop playing and release the album already,” and more.
“If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay” is Pearce’s third song to release as she stirs anticipation for her fifth studio record. She started with “Dream Come True” is “about the sacrifices we make when chasing our dreams.” “Church Girl” followed earlier this year, offering a message “of love and acceptance, and not judgement.”
Pearce confirmed Senior Music Editor Joseph Hudak on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast that her album is “done.” She said she returned “to the origin of music for me, which is Appalachian, classic country, Loretta Lynn meets The Judds meets Alison Krauss. You know, that’s where I grew up.” The finished record, which she has not announced as of publication time, “this feels like 29: Part Two. …I don’t want to shy away from my story,” she said on the podcast. “I’m evolving.” Pearce’s fifth studio album will follow hummingbird, which arrived in 2024 and expanded into a deluxe album, hummingbird: no rain, no flowers, in 2025. The Grammy-winning artist’s hummingbird era included “country music made me do it,” “truck on fire,” “we don’t fight anymore” with Chris Stapleton and more.
Green is part of the star-studded lineup of the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival, along with Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Shaboozey, Dylan Scott, Russell Dickerson, Gretchen Wilson, Chase Matthew and Lauren Alaina. iHeartRadio's Bobby Bones is returning as the event’s host. The show will take place on May 2 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Tickets to the show are available as of January 23. Fans across the country will be able to catch all the action as the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival will be broadcast live across iHeartCountry stations nationwide and the free iHeartRadio app on Saturday, May 2nd at 8pm ET/5pm PT (7pm CT).