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Carly Pearce addressed rumors that she was a “devil worshipper” when she recently caught up with Wayne D and Tay on Lower Broadway in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The newly-debuted podcast episode delves into Pearce’s life updates she shares in her music, going on tour with Tim McGraw and more, in addition to the unexpected TMZ story she saw after posting a photo from CMA Fest.
Pearce posted photos when she played the final night of the four-day festival on the main stage at Nissan Stadium earlier this month. The first photo captured the hummingbird star — wearing a shimmering dress and matching knee-high boots — standing in front of her tour bus. Though some social media users alleged a dark underlying message because of the parking space number in front of Pearce’s tour bus, the singer-songwriter quickly set the record straight.
“I posted a picture of me outside of my tour bus getting ready to play the stadium, and there’s apparently an underground satanic cult in the entertainment industry. And there was a 668 [parking space number], but fans thought it said 666, and everybody was like, ‘Carly’s a devil worshipper.’ And I was like, ‘of anybody? Me? Really?’ ...and I made it to TMZ because of my ’satanic tendencies,’ you know?” Pearce said when she caught up with Wayne D and Tay. “My mom was like, ‘I’m proud of you for standing up for your faith.’ I was like, ‘yeah, mom, I don’t want people thinking I’m a devil worshipper!’”
Pearce posted a statement earlier this month, saying that she’s “seen too many comments about this being some sort of ‘hint’ towards 666 or satan,” to not speak out. “First of all, this was the parking spot for my tour bus at CMA fest & I believe it is 668,” — one Instagram commenter said at that time, “you can clearly see it says 668,” when brightening the image — “I am a devout Christian who takes PRIDE in using my platform to point people towards JESUS. So, for anyone wondering... there are absolutely ZERO underlying messages except a girl excited to be playing the big stage.”
Pearce released her fourth studio album, hummingbird, on June 7. The 14-track project marks Pearce’s first time in a producing role, alongside Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne. The album includes “country music made me do it,” “truck on fire,” “we don’t fight anymore” featuring Chris Stapleton, “rock paper scissors,” “my place,” “woman to woman,” “fault line” and other fan-favorite tracks. The album arrives as Pearce finishes the final run of shows on McGraw’s headlining tour throughout this month.
“I hope that you see that no matter where you’re at, you’re right on time,” Pearce said in a video she posted on Instagram hours before hummingbird’s debut. “Don’t let anybody tell you that just because you’re not living the ‘American dream’ or ‘society’s standards’ that anything’s wrong with you. It’s OK to not have it all figured out. You can still be happy through that, and I feel like what I have learned more than anything is that God gave me a really big story. A story that, if I’m honest, I don’t know that I really wanted. But I have owned it in the last three years, and I’m proud of it, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come, and I just can’t wait for you guys to hear hummingbird.”