It didn’t take long for Jason Aldean‘s secret duet partner to reveal herself. After the singer teased his new collaboration, “If I Didn’t Love You,” on Wednesday (July 21), fans began sleuthing — and the woman herself confirmed the news on Thursday morning (July 21).
Carrie Underwood sings the new song, due out on Friday (July 23), with Aldean. In the comments on his Instagram post announcing the single, she replied with a single emoji: a woman with her hand raised.
Aldean, then, shared a screenshot of the post, with Underwood’s comment circled, in his Instagram Stories. “Tonight at midnight!” he writes.
Even before both Underwood and Aldean revealed the news, fans were catching on. On Twitter, some shared that they’d downloaded the image Aldean had shared on Instagram and tweaked the photo’s coloring to reveal a promo image of Underwood hidden behind the question mark.
Taste of Country, The Boot’s partner site, attempted the same trick and confirmed that the reports were legitimate:
Additionally, on Facebook — where it’s already Friday — a fan shared a screenshot of an audio player with the song pulled up. “Listening to it now … [and] loving it,” writes Amie Ladmore.
Fans had also guessed that “If I Didn’t Love You” could be a duet between Aldean and his wife Brittany. Although the couple have never done a song together, the former NBA dancer once auditioned for American Idol, so she can sing.
Aldean has never been one to shy away from duets and collaborations. Previously, he’s sung with Miranda Lambert (“Drowns the Whiskey”), Kelly Clarkson (“Don’t You Wanna Stay”), Kelsea Ballerini (“First Time Again”), Tyler Farr (“Damn Good Friends”), Ronnie Milsap (“Prisoner of the Highway”), Luke Bryan and Eric Church (“The Only Way I Know”), and even rapper Ludacris (“Dirt Road Anthem Remix”).
See the Top 50 Country Duets of All Time: