Megan Moroney shared the heartfelt story behind an unreleased ballad as she premiered the debut live performance on Tuesday (September 30).

The reigning Country Music Association New Artist of the Year played “Beautiful Things” for an audience for the first time at her recent show at Credit One Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. Moroney asked the crowd, “would y’all be mad if I played an unreleased song? I’ve never played this one in a show before, so y’all are the very first large group of people to hear it.

“It’s a song that I wrote for my niece, actually,” Moroney continued as concertgoers cheered. “And when she was born, I remember just looking at her and being like, ‘she’s so perfect, and I just never want anything sad to happen to her.’ Or, you know, inevitably, one day she’s gonna get older and maybe someone won’t invite her to a party, and inevitably she’s gonna get her heart broken one day. And I literally, in ‘crazy auntie mode,’ was like, ‘I’ve gotta write her a song so that she never has a bad day, so that she can always listen to this song.’

“And what’s really interesting is that in an interview last week, somebody asked me if I’ve ever written a song to myself. And I had to think about it, and I decided that out of all of my discography, I think if I had to pick a song that I would write to myself, this would also be it,” Moroney continued. She explained, “because I was the girl that, you know, in middle school, I didn’t get invited to the party. And when I got a little bit older, I couldn’t make the guy love me and stay with me. And I just wish I had a song that said exactly this, and so, I think that’s part of the reason why I wrote it for my niece. And I think this song is just a great reminder that we’re all going through something, so just be nice to each other.”

Moroney, who got emotional during the performance, confirmed “Beautiful Things” will appear on her next studio album; however, she didn’t confirm any other details about her next record as of publication time on Wednesday (October 1). The Georgia-born singer-songwriter’s latest single to release is “6 Months Later” following her highly-anticipated sophomore album, Am I Okay? Watch her debut performance of “Beautiful Things” here:

Angie Ward