About I Hope (feat. Charlie Puth)

Gabby Barrett’s dream came true this week when her debut single, “I Hope,” finally topped the country charts. But why stop at that? The 20-year-old torch singer is also celebrating a beyond-her-wildest-dreams moment with a surprise collaboration with one of her pop idols, Charlie Puth — and it was all Puth’s idea. The new version of “I Hope,” with Puth taking a revised second verse and lending his vocals to the intro, bridge and chorus, grew out of the 28-year-old pop star’s love for the song. He told the world as much in an Instagram Story a few weeks ago that floored Barrett.

“He captioned it and put ‘wow’ when he tagged me,” Barrett tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I still can’t believe it. When you release music, you don’t ever think that these big stars are gonna hear it.” RELATED: Gabby Barrett Credits Carrie Underwood with Crucial Help: ‘She Gave Me a Lot of Great Advice’ Barrett confesses she let out a squeal when she saw the Instagram Story. Of course, the next thing she did was take a screenshot of it to share with her family members. She says she’s been a fan of Puth’s since falling for “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” his 2016 collaboration with Selena Gomez.