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Carly Pearce took to TikTok to share the story behind her steamy duet — and “hottest” music video — with fellow country star Riley Green.
Pearce, 36, and Green, 37 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 “doing this (is) the definition of insane.” Pearce released the duet in March after stirring anticipation with romantic teasers on social media. When she revealed Green was her mystery duet partner, commenters quickly expressed their surprise. One wrote, “my jaw is on the FLOOR.”
“Riley and I, we have been friends for a long time, and I’ve always thought he was such a great artist,” Pearce said in a clip she shared on TikTok on Wednesday (July 22). As she made pizza, she told TikTokers how the song came to life. The Grammy-winning country star told some of her co-writers that she wanted a collaboration for her upcoming fifth studio record, Honest Woman, and when they shared “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay,” Pearce said she loved it before the song was even over.
She opted to text Green herself, rather than ask her team to reach out to his. “I’m not kidding, within five minutes he sends back a text and he says ‘I’m in.’” About an hour later, Pearce received a voice memo with Green’s verse. When she heard his vocal, “I had full body chills. I knew instantly that it was gonna be something special because he absolutely crushed it.
“So then I had this crazy idea to make a music video,” she continued. “If you haven’t seen the music video, you should probably go watch it. I do think it might be the hottest music video that’s been out in the last 20 years. Yeah, I said it. I said it. …I used to love all of the music videos from the ‘90s. They were real stories, and had a true storyline and the actors played these roles. So, I asked Riley if he would go there with me, and if we could play the role of the two that can’t get away from each other. and if I’m honest, when we saw the treatment, I was like, ‘oh, God.’”
Pearce said she’s always wanted the opportunity to act, so the video was a “good challenge for me to really go there. …I got so close to his face that my lip touched the ‘stache.”
The duet is one of 16 tracks appearing on Pearce’s upcoming album, Honest Woman, along with “Dream Come True,” “Church Girl,” “She Don’t,” and more. Pearce previously said, “when I started making Honest Woman, I found myself rediscovering who I am and why I wanted to be a country music singer in the first place. This album takes me back to the beginning of my story, where the sounds of classic country and bluegrass music shaped who I am. I’m so proud of this body of work, and I truly feel like it’s my best yet.”
Honest Woman will make its debut on August 28.