Carly Pearce took the time to set the record straight after she posted a photo that ignited rumors on social media.
Pearce recently posted a series of snapshots from CMA Fest, where she took the main stage on Sunday evening (June 9) at Nissan Stadium in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Pearce’s stadium performance on the final night of the star-studded, four-day festival arrived on the heels of her new studio album’s debut. Other artists who performed at the venue that night included Josh Turner, Megan Moroney, Zach Top, Brothers Osborne, Wyatt Flores, Jackson Dean, Bailey Zimmerman and HARDY.
“CMA Fest, you were magical,” Pearce wrote in her caption as she posted photos from the event, hailed the longest-running country festival in the world. “It’s still so surreal to me that I get to be a part of it the way that I do. Over 25 years of country music dreams lived out on the stage last night.”
Some social media commenters, however, appeared to focus on the number painted onto a parking space where Pearce was standing in the first photo.
“I've seen too many comments about this being some sort of ‘hint’ towards 666 or satan to not comment,” Pearce wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, and on a slide on her Instagram story. “First of all, this was the parking spot for my tour bus at CMA fest & I believe it is 668,” — one Instagram commenter said “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 full-length studio album, hummingbird, on Friday (June 7). The 14-track album marks the singer-songwriter’s first co-producing credit. It includes “country music made me do it,” “truck on fire,” “my place,” “we don’t fight anymore” with Chris Stapleton and other highlights. Pearce, who is currently on tour with Tim McGraw, said when she announced hummingbird earlier this year that the tracks on the album “incapsulate my confidence that there is light on the other side of darkness and my true love of country music.”