Carly Pearce: Visionary Women

As an aspiring young singer growing up in small-town Kentucky, Carly Pearce was mesmerised by the powerful women in country music. “Icons like Patty, Lorett and Reba were all I listened to and the reason I wanted to become a performer myself,” she tells Apple Music. To celebrate International Women’s Day, the “Next Girl” singer curated a special playlist of her favourite female voices. There are modern-day superstars like Kacey Musgraves and Ashley McBryde, whose song “Hang In There Girl” makes Pearce “proud to be a woman in country”. And, of course, there’s Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”, a feminist classic first released in 1980 that is every bit as empowering today. “Dolly has never let anyone walk on top of her or control her story,” Pearce says. “I think we can all learn a lot from her.”