5 Classic Female Country Duets
There is so much about country music that I love, both as a journalist and as a fan. I write about, and listen to, country music every single day. I have done that for many years, and I got to thinking about something I love most about the genre, and that is female country duets.
There haven’t been too many all-female duets in country music, but I gathered the ones I felt were the very best. I hope that more will be recorded in the future from country music’s elite group of powerful women.
Here are my five favorites to date:
Miranda Lambert and Elle King – “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”
This is the song that brought Elle King into the country music world, and it went straight to the top of the country charts. This catchy country music gem was nominated for the GRAMMY Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, the Country Music Association Award for Musical Event of the Year, and won the Academy of Country Music Award for Video of the Year.
King wrote the song with Martin Johnson.
Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde – “Never Wanted To Be That Girl”
This song received four nominations at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards, winning Musical Event of the Year, and won the GRAMMY Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 65th ceremony.
Pearce and McBryde composed the track together for Carly’s 2021 album, 29: Written in Stone. The album’s material reflected on Pearce’s personal difficulties and divorce after just months of marriage to Michael Ray.
Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton – “Does He Love You”
This duet was a GRAMMY nominee, and while it did not win, in my opinion, it sure should have. This is the first time the two country queens recorded a song together. Reba often shares the story of when she made her Grand Ole Opry debut in the 1970s, and she had to go next to a performance from Dolly, and how nervous she was.
After this song was released, I did an interview with Reba and was able to tell her how the song affected me. When I first heard Dolly and Reba’s voices blend together, It made me cry; they sounded so natural and iconic together.
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Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert – “Somethin’ Bad”
When this was released in 2014, Miranda told us that when Carrie agreed to do a duet with her, she made sure it rocked a little. The two performed the song together on several award shows that year. This fun collaboration received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. It was originally intended to be a male/female duet but was later tweaked so that it could be performed by two females.
A few years after this duet, Miranda told me about her friend Carrie, “I’m just proud of her and I know how hard she’s worked for a long time to get to be here together and carrying torches, so I’m just proud of her, and I’m thrilled to call her a friend.”
Dolly Parton and Elle King – “Holding On To You”
A song from the Netflix movie soundtrack Dumplin’. This is a classic Dolly Parton move: releasing a song that she wrote and recorded years ago and putting a new spin on it. Elle took a lot of heat last year for botching her performance on the Grand Ole Opry at Parton’s birthday salute, but in true Dolly fashion, the country icon stood up for King, who apologized.
“Holding On To You” first appeared on Parton’s 1977 New Harvest… First Gathering album. She recorded the song on August 22, 1976.
Dolly’s original:
