Carly Pearce went through upheaval, grief and pain to create her next collection of songs, 29. The project traces a period of Carly’s life marked by the sudden loss of her mentor and producer, busbee, followed by a very public divorce from fellow country star Michael Ray. 29. “He was my champion before anyone believed.” As Carly’s longtime producer, busbee also co-wrote her 2017 breakout hit, “Every Little Thing.” He worked with Carly through the process of making her 2020 self-titled sophomore project, but died in September of 2019 after being diagnosed with brain cancer just a short time beforehand. “Then came the divorce — something I never saw coming,” Carly continues. She officially filed for divorce in June of 2020, just eight months after she and Michael tied the knot.