Kelsea Ballerini, Carly Pearce & Kelly Clarkson to Team Up for CMA Awards Performance

Three top female artists will team up for a searing performance during the upcoming CMA Awards, which is slated to air on ABC on Nov. 9 from Nashville.

On her latest album, Subject to Change, Kelsea Ballerini welcomed friends Carly Pearce and Kelly Clarkson on the rowdy track “You’re Drunk, Go Home.” The trio of artists will make their debut live performance of the song during the CMA Awards. TMZ first reported the news, and Billboard has independently confirmed the trio will be performing the song together during the awards ceremony.

The track is a piercing kiss-off to a drunk guy trying hopelessly make a romantic gesture, and proves to be a fine female empowerment moment. Notably, all three of the women have weathered divorces in recent years, with Clarkson splitting from Brandon Blackstock in 2020. That same year, Pearce divorced fellow country artist Michael Ray, and in August 2022, Ballerini revealed her split from fellow country artist Morgan Evans.

Ballerini previously told Billboard about the song’s origins and how Pearce and Clarkson came to be on the track.

“I felt that there’s some sass and comedy to this song,” Ballerini explained. “So I thought, ‘Who are the women in my life that are artists that have both of those things?’ Carly and I have been friends for, like, 10 years, before either of us had anything going on and we’ve just seen each other personally and professionally through so many seasons of life. We’ve always wanted to do a song together and this made sense.”

When it came to Clarkson, Ballerini said, “I thought the biggest ask I could make is Kelly Clarkson, and I texted her that morning. She did her vocals that night.”

At last year’s CMA Awards, Ballerini picked up two wins for “Half of My Hometown,” her collaboration with Kenny Chesney, netting video of the year and musical event of the year. This year, the song is nominated for single of the year heading into November’s awards ceremony.

Pearce is one of the most nominated artists leading into this year’s awards show, with five nods, including musical event of the year, music video of the year, and single and song of the year (all for “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” with Ashley McBryde), as well as female vocalist of the year. Pearce took home the CMA’s female vocalist of the year honor for the first time last year.

To date, Clarkson has earned six CMA Awards nominations, as well as a win for musical event of the year in 2011 for her collaboration with Jason Aldean, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.”