Carly Pearce joins Michael Bublé on the holiday song, “Maybe This Christmas,” out now. The two recently performed the song at the Grand Ole Opry, marking Bublé’s first, but likely not last, appearance at the historic venue.

It was Bublé’s idea to perform “Maybe This Christmas” at the Grand Ole Opry, an idea he suggested to Pearce while still in the studio.

“We sat in Vancouver recording the song, and I started to say to her, ‘You know that I’m a huge fan, I’m just a massive country fan,'” Bublé recalls to Everything Nash. “We talked about all the artists I love, and I said, ‘I would die if I ever had a chance to play the Opry,’ and she was like, ‘What?'”

It was a resounding, albeit a bit surprising, yes from Pearce when Bublé asked if they could sing together at the Grand Ole Opry.

“I’ve been doing this long enough to see when people come into our format because they think it’s easy, quite frankly,” Pearce acknowledges.”It’s an easy grab, and we allow it. I hate that. But you know who’s not coming into our genre as an easy grab? Him. He genuinely has such a respect for our format. He wanted to play the Opry, I was like, ‘I’m sorry. You want to come to Nashville and play on the Opry?’ I got to walk him around, show him everything. Everybody was freaking out. It was one of my favorite nights at the Grand Ole Opry that I’ve ever had, because here’s this world-class singer, icon, and he understood what that circle meant.”

Bublé was inspired by performing at the Grand Ole Opry, but the global superstar’s eagerness to sing at the Grand Ole Opry also inspired Pearce as well.

“I’ve been lucky enough to go to the Grammys for the last couple of years, and I feel very out of place there,” the “Truck on Fire” singer admits. “And he gives me this resurgence of hope of, you can have all the clout in the world, but you can’t fake being a genuinely good person.”

Bublé has had plenty of unforgettable moments over his 20-plus year career, but he doubts anything will ever top, at least in his mind, being able to sing at the Grand Ole Opry.

“I’m telling you, it was unreal,” Bublé recalls. “I called my mom and dad. I called everybody. I was like, ‘You don’t understand.’ Okay, being in the circle, yes. Amazing. To be in that church, and to get to stand in the place where the greatest of all time stood, and to get to pay tribute to the history, was amazing. But it wasn’t as amazing as getting to walk in with [Pearce], and watching her. She looked like an 11-year-old, so excited, introducing me to the security guard, and showing me all of the pictures, and then going, ‘And there’s my picture.’

“It’s adorable, because it’s so refreshing,” he adds. “And then to get backstage, and I’m meeting all these gigantic stars, and they’re so talented, and there’s not a door closed. I was like, ‘There’s not a door closed! ‘All the doors are open and people are coming in and out. I end up singing for an hour.”

Aside from being able to sing “Maybe This Christmas” with Pearce on the sacred stage, Bublé’s favorite part was being able to hang out with The Isaacs, who astounded him with their family harmonies.

“Just sitting with my mouth hanging open,” Bublé remembers. “They were doing some gospel stuff, and ‘How Great Thou Art.’ I got goosebumps. That’s how the night was. Meeting them, talking to everybody. I’m like, ‘I’m coming back. I don’t care if they invite me back. I’m coming back no matter what. I’m forcing myself back in.’ And then my sisters, Kelsea Ballerini and Carly Pearce are the ones that introduced me in my first-ever time at the Grand Ole Opry, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the coolest place on the universe. This is a movie.”

“Maybe This Christmas” can be found at MichaelBuble.com.

Photo Credit: Jamie Wendt