Carly Pearce is finally taking a moment to stop and soak in all that has happened to her in the past year. The 32-year-old had a No. 1 hit with “Never Wanted to Be That Girl”  duet with Ashley McBryde. She won the CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as the ACM Award for Female Artist of the Year. Pearce is also being celebrated as one of the CMT Artists of the Year, all successes that she is now, finally, able to appreciate.

“I think when you’re living in this whirlwind that we live in as artists, you kind of forget everything that can happen to you in a calendar year,” Pearce tells her record label. “And so I think about what has happened to me since last October, and I was thinking that last October everything that had happened to me. We see the Top 40 chart. I just wanna matter there, and then I see that I’m one of the five that are being honored as having the biggest year. That’s really all I ever wanted. I just always wanted to feel like I was a part of the country music family in a big way.”

Of all that has happened to Pearce, the Grand Ole Opry member thinks the CMT Artists of the Year ceremony will likely be one of the biggest highlights she will remember.

“I think that of all the things that have happened this year,” reflects the singer, “I do think that that’s one of the biggest, most memorable nights that I think I will have, and one that I really hope that I can be present for. Sometimes it’s hard to be present in the moment when we’re all trying to think about the next move to keep us on top. But I really do hope that that’s a night that I can shut all of that out and really understand where I am in this moment of 2022.”

Pearce just released the video for her current “What He Didn’t Do” single, the last release from her 2021 29: Written in Stone record.

“This song is all about setting your standards high, and remembering that you deserve the best,” Pearce tells CMT. “We spend so much time in relationships going, ‘ Well, they didn’t do this, and they didn’t do this, and they didn’t do this.’ But at the end of the day, you need to remember your worth.”

Pearce is nominated for five CMA Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year. Walker Hayes, Cody Johnson, Luke Combs and Kane Brown were also honored, along with Lainey Wilson, who was named the Breakout Artist of the Year, and Alan Jackson, who was named the Artist of a Lifetime.

The CMT Artists of the Year ceremony airs on Friday night, October 14, at 9:00 PM ET on CMT.

All of Pearce’s music and tour dates can be found at CarlyPearce.com.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CMT / Getty Images