‘Girl’ Power: Pearce & McBryde Reign

Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde’s “Never Wanted To Be That Girl” tops Country Airplay, becoming just the third duet between two solo women to lead the chart — and the second in under a month, after Elle King and Miranda Lambert’s “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” (April 16). The team-ups follow Reba McEntire’s “Does He Love You,” with Linda Davis, in November 1993.

“Reba and Linda... Miranda and Elle... now Ashley and me,” says Pearce. “And the fact that we’re not just singing it, but also that we wrote it [with Shane McAnally]... that’s the icing on the cake.”

“Carly, Shane and I were focused on writing a song we loved that day,” says McBryde. “We were three individuals unafraid of being honest. That was our compass. Now here we are with a No. 1 song at country radio to remind us of how rewarding honesty can be.”