Gwen Stefani and Carly Pearce Link Up for Genre-Bending ‘Just a Girl’ at 2023 CMT Music Awards
Carly Pearce joined Gwen Stefani on stage in Austin at the 2023 CMT Music Awards for a performance of the latter’s first signature song with her ’90s and ’00s band No Doubt, 1995’s “Just a Girl.”
With co-host Kelsea Ballerini teasing a “scream-sing” moment for the old crowd, Stefani took the stage in a throwback sort of punk chic dress to deliver the song’s first verse and chorus. A black-clad Pearce then made her way to the stage to take the second verse and chorus, with Pearce and Stefani trading off vocals on the climactic refrain and singing together on the final “ohhh, I’ve had it up to here”s to loud audience appreciation.
The appearance was Pearce’s second time playing on the evening, having previously performed on her own for her country radio smash “What He Didn’t Do.” Pearce is also nominated for two awards at this year’s ceremonies: female video of the year and CMT performance of the year, both nods for “What He Didn’t Do.” (She lost female video shortly after her and Stefani’s performance, to Lainey Wilson for “Heart Like a Truck.”) Stefani’s husband Blake Shelton previously kicked off the show with his recent single “No Body.”
“Just a Girl” peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early Hot 100, the group’s first top 40 hit. Along with follow-up singles like “Spiderwebs” and “Don’t Speak,” “Girl” helped its parent album Tragic Kingdom become of the best-selling albums of the mid-’90s, earning diamond certification from the RIAA.
Andrew Unterberger
Billboard
