Country star Carly Pearce issues urgent health plea after being ignored by doctors: 'Please go get checked'

26 Feb 2026 By foxnews

Country music star Carly Pearce urged fans to go get checked by doctors when health issues arise.

Pearce, 35, reflected on how doctors initially misdiagnosed her before realizing the "Dream Come True" singer suffered from pericarditis. The condition is caused by inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart.

"That was something I developed in 2020 and didn't know what it was for a really long time. It was kind of misdiagnosed, also dismissed," Pearce explained during an appearance on Rolling Stone's "Nashville Now."

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"'Oh, you have anxiety. Oh, you have a busy schedule,'" Pearce recalled being told. "And it's like, 'No, something's not right.' And, so, in 2024, I went public with that just because it took me out for a second. But I'm doing really well. And I haven't had any kind of major flair. But I think, again, just trying to be honest with people and use my platform to be like, 'Please go get checked because there was something wrong.'"

The "Church Girl" singer announced she had been diagnosed with an "intense" heart condition called pericarditis in May 2024. Pearce claimed that her health condition was initially "dismissed" by medical professionals, but she continued to press doctors until she received answers.

"My biggest piece of advice for anybody is: Listen to your body, and be your own advocate. … A lot of doctors dismissed me, and I was persistent until I got a diagnosis," she told Fox News Digital at the time.

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Pearce has learned how to live with the condition, which doesn't affect her tour planning or career.

"For a while after I was very - any time I got a tinge of like a chest pain, it scared me," she said on the Rolling Stone podcast. "Or, like, if you're on a long flight, or you're away from a hospital or things like that, that would scare me.

"But I think now I have it under control to where I know what to do," Pearce added. "I know when it feels like when it's coming on, so I don't feel fear anymore."

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Pearce has been living with the heart condition for nearly six years and experiences flare-ups occasionally.

"I had a really debilitating chest pain that was only relieved if I bent over like this (leaning forward), and that's a classic symptom of pericarditis," she previously explained to "Today."

"And then when you lay back, it gets way worse, because that wall is kind of inflamed around your heart.

"I just had a really intense shortness of breath, like almost having to suck through, like, a straw."