The 2022 CMA Awards are all about the girl power on Wednesday night (Nov. 9), and Kelly Clarkson, Kelsea Ballerini and Carly Pearce brought the heat with their fun “You’re Drunk, Go Home” performance.
The trio traded verses and impressive vocal ability as they sang onstage in sleek blue outfits, with sparklers blasting behind them. “Hey, walk away, so me and my girls can do our thing/ I ain’t looking for a one-night rodeo/ You’re drunk, go home,” they declare in the sassy chorus.
Back in September, Clarkson had Ballerini as a guest on her daytime talk show, where the “Since U Been Gone” singer admitted that she was fittingly inebriated while recording the song. “I get to the studio here with [music director] Jason [Halbert], and I get in there and I’m like, ‘Look, I didn’t know I was gonna be singing today,’” Clarkson remembered. “I didn’t know! … So I had to sing a song called ‘You’re Drunk, Go Home’ inebriated, trying to sing first soprano parts like, ‘I’m fine!’”
In an interview with Billboard, Ballerini said she thought of her friend of 10 years Pearce immediately for the song and then sent it to Clarkson too, trying to add “someone who can add a different texture, vocally.” “I thought the biggest ask I could make is Kelly Clarkson, and I texted her that morning,” Ballerini shared. “She did her vocals that night.”
Ballerini’s “Half of My Hometown” was nominated for single of the year at the 2022 CMA Awards, though she ultimately lost to Cody Johnson’s “Til You Can’t.” See our full list of CMA Awards winners here.
.@KelseaBallerini, @KellyClarkson, and @CarlyPearce sharing ONE stage at the #CMAawards?! 🤩 We know that’s right! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/gpeMjVugRb
— CMA Country Music (@CountryMusic) November 10, 2022