In October 2019, Carly Pearce and Lee Brice released a duet titled, “I Hope You’re Happy Now.” It served as the second single to Pearce’s self-titled album and quickly became the fastest-rising single of her career.
The song topped the chart in June 2020, making it Pearce’s second number one single and Brice’s sixth.
When it was announced that Pearce and Brice would team up to perform their chart-topping song at the 54th Annual CMA Awards, we knew it would be one of the most anticipated performances of the night.
However on Nov. 9, 2020, it was revealed that Brice had tested positive for COVID-19 and would be forced to miss the awards show. All performers were tested prior to arriving at the Music City Center for rehearsals and he was found to be positive, despite not having any symptoms, according to his representative.
The CMA was quick on their feet and just hours after it was announced Brice wouldn’t perform, his replacement was announced: Charles Kelley from Lady A!
Unfortunately, Lady A dropped out of their CMA duties about an hour before the show went live because one of their immediate family members had tested positive for COVID. Luckily, Charles and Carly had already filmed their performance.
— Lady A (@ladya) November 12, 2020
Watch their performance below.