Carly Pearce Reveals How She Overcame Accident That Nearly Ruined Her 2020 CMA Awards Appearance

Carly Pearce is speaking out for the first time about a 2020 accident that nearly had a devastating outcome. In a new video, she shares how she knocked out her front teeth just seven days before her debut CMA Awards performance and how she still managed to make it to the coveted night.

“A little fun fact about the 2020 CMA Awards to start your Monday,” she wrote in the caption.

The Kentucky native took fans back in time to Halloween of 2020, when she attended a party dressed up as a cat. Unfortunately, she reveals it didn’t take long before the night took a turn for the worst.

“It was pretty early in the night and I was going down the stairs and I fell. It was one of those kind of falls that you don’t catch yourself, so I landed straight on my mouth,” she explained.

Pearce noted how the fall was hard enough to knock her out as well as a few of her teeth.

“I remember waking up to my friend FaceTiming my mom to show her what had happened. I ended up the next day realizing it was a Sunday and also realizing that the CMA’s were very much approaching.”

The photo Pearce inserted into the video showed her lips bloody and swollen with large chips in her front teeth. In order to try and find a solution as quickly as possible she says she spent most of the following day with a dentist and a plastic surgeon, both of which came in on their days off to try and help her emergency situation.

“When I made it to the dentist, we realized that I had almost bit straight through my mouth, so I had to get skin removed in here and get seven stitches put in my bottom lip,” she recalled. “I spent the afternoon with a dentist who was able to put a fake piece on each of my front teeth and told me that I could come back after the CMAs to get root canals.”

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Once the dental issues were temporarily under control, Pearce found herself visiting the plastic surgeon every day leading up to the awards show, slowly working to heal her lips and the surrounding areas impacted by the fall.

“He would lay compresses on my face and scrape. Aquifer was a healer, not anything expensive. I put that on my face all day, every day. So y’all, by the grace of God and Aquaphor and these amazing doctors, my face looked pretty normal to be able to go to the show, at least from far away.”

Not only was Carly Pearce able to attend the award show, but she also managed to push through the pain and swelling to perform.

She continued, “At one point during the show, my friend leaned over to me that was my date and she goes, ‘Your lip is bleeding.’ So I performed my song and when I was singing, I had a lisp. My teeth were that freaking loose, but I did it and I made it, and it was all fine.”

All things considered, Pearce ended up having a pretty successful night. She also walked away the winner of Music Event of the Year for her duet with Lee Brice, “I Hope You’re Happy Now.”

There were also a few remaining challenges that came out of that evening, like the fact that she had to get three root canals done the next morning. Plus, she also recalled facing criticism from the public, with some falsely claiming she had a “bad lip job.”

The accident has also had lasting effects on her mouth. She explained she’s been wearing Invisalign for the past five years, and her bottom teeth have been reconstructed multiple times after chipping. “I can never bite straight on,” she admitted.

Despite all the pain and challenges, she’s come to view the experience in a new light. She now sees it as part of the path that she had to follow in order to have that milestone moment in her career.

“The events that had to all happen for me to make it to the show to then win was a moment that I’ll never forget.”

Carly Pearce has since gone on to win several more CMA Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year and another Musical Event of the Year trophy for “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” with Ashley McBryde.

The Grand Ole Opry member is now preparing to enter her next musical chapter with a new album and tour on the way. She will spend the majority of 2026 bringing her music to fans across the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia on her Inside The Dream Tour.