Carrie Marie Fisher (née Underwood; born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. Recognized for her vocal range and dynamic stage presence, Underwood is credited as a pivotal figure in 21st century country music. She has revitalized and sustained the presence of female country artists in popular culture since winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005.
Her first single, "Inside Your Heaven" in 2005, made her the first-ever country artist to debut atop the US Billboard Hot 100 and the only solo country artist to top the Hot 100 in the 2000s. Led by crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", her first album, Some Hearts (2005), became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo female country artist, was ranked by Billboard as the top country album of the 2000s, and won her three Grammy Awards—including Best New Artist. Thereafter, Carnival Ride (2007) sold over half a million copies first-week and won two Grammy Awards, while Play On (2009) made her the only woman ever to have eleven consecutive top-two singles and the first since the 1980s to attain ten number-ones at country radio.
She achieved the second-best selling female album released in 2012 and won a Grammy Award with Blown Away. A commercial success in 2014, her compilation album spawned the Grammy-winning crossover single "Something in the Water". Storyteller (2015) made her the only country artist to have all first five studio albums reach the top two on the US Billboard 200, while Cry Pretty had the largest female album debut of 2018 and made her the only woman to top the Billboard 200 with four country studio albums. In the 2020s, she has released the Christmas album My Gift (2020), won the Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album with the gospel album My Savior (2021), and reinforced her country pop image with Denim & Rhinestones in 2022.
One of the best-selling music artists, Underwood is the highest-certified female country artist by total US units sold (over 95 million albums and singles) and by digital single sales (over 72 million). She also is the female artist with the most number-one singles (16) on the US Country Airplay chart, while "Before He Cheats" is the highest-certified solo female country song. Billboard ranked her as the top female country artist of the 2000s and 2010s, while Pollstar ranked her among the 15 highest-grossing female touring artists of the last four decades. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, the most Billboard Music Awards (12) and American Music Awards (17) among female country artists, seven Guinness World Records, as well as inductions into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. Additionally, Rolling Stone hailed her as "the female vocalist of her generation in any genre", Time listed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014 and Forbes declared her the most successful American Idol winner. She further starred as Maria von Trapp in the television special The Sound of Music Live! (2013), has performed and co-written the NBC Sunday Night Football intro song since 2013, and been a judge on American Idol since 2025.
Early life Carrie Marie Underwood was born on March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, to Barbara Carole Underwood (née Shatswell) and Stephen Bryan Underwood. She has two older sisters, Shanna and Stephanie, and was raised on her parents' farm in the nearby rural town of Checotah. Her father worked in a paper mill while her mother taught elementary school. During her childhood, Underwood performed at Robbins Memorial Talent Show, and sang at her local church, First Free Will Baptist Church. She later sang for local events in Checotah, including Old Settler's Day and the Lions Club.
A local admirer arranged for her to go to Nashville when she was 14 to audition for Capitol Records.Biography Today, p.144 In 1997, Capitol Records was preparing a contract for Underwood but canceled it when company management changed. Underwood said of the event, "I honestly think it's a lot better that nothing came out of it now, because I wouldn't have been ready then. Everything has a way of working out."Biography Today, pp.144–145
While at Checotah High School, she was an Honor Society member, a cheerleader, and played basketball and softball.Biography Today, p.145 Underwood graduated from Checotah High School in 2001 as salutatorian. She did not initially pursue singing after graduation and once said "After high school, I pretty much gave up on the dream of singing. I had reached a point in my life where I had to be practical and prepare for my future in the 'real world.
She attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, graduating magna cum laude, in 2006, with a bachelor's degree in mass communication and an emphasis in journalism. She spent part of one of her summers as a page for Oklahoma State Representative Bobby Frame. She also waited tables at a pizzeria, worked at a zoo, and worked at a veterinary clinic. Underwood is an alumna of the Alpha Iota chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority.
For two summers, she performed in Northeastern State University's Downtown Country show in Tahlequah. She competed in numerous beauty pageants at the university and was selected as Miss NSU runner-up in 2004.
Career 2004–2005: American Idol
American Idol season 4 performances and resultsEpisodeThemeSongOriginal artistOrderResult AuditionsContestant's choice "I Can't Make You Love Me" Bonnie RaittN/AAdvanced Hollywood "Young Hearts Run Free" Candi Staton Top 75 "Independence Day" Martina McBride Top 24 (12 women) "Could've Been" Tiffany 5Safe Top 20 (10 women) "Piece of My Heart" Erma Franklin 9 Top 16 (8 women) "Because You Love Me" Jo Dee Messina 3 Top 12 Song of the 1960s "When Will I Be Loved" The Everly Brothers 11 Top 11 Billboard number ones "Alone" i-TEN 2 Top 10 1990s "Independence Day" Martina McBride 8 Top 9 Classic Broadway "Hello, Young Lovers" The King and I cast 3 Top 8 Year they were born "Love Is a Battlefield" Pat Benatar 7 Top 7 1970s dance music "MacArthur Park" Richard Harris 2 Top 6 21st Century "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues" Martina McBride 1Top 5 Leiber & Stoller "Trouble" Elvis Presley 5 Current Billboard chart "Bless the Broken Road" Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 10Top 4 Country "Sin Wagon" Dixie Chicks 1 Gamble & Huff "If You Don't Know Me by Now" Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 5Top 3 Clive Davis' choice "Crying" Roy Orbison 3 Contestant's choice "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" Air Supply 6 Judge's choice (Randy Jackson) "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" Shania Twain 9Final 2 Idol single "Inside Your Heaven" Carrie Underwood/Bo Bice 2Winner Contestant's choice "Independence Day" Martina McBride 4 Producer's choice "Angels Brought Me Here" Guy Sebastian6
In mid-2004, Underwood auditioned for American Idol in St. Louis, Missouri, singing Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me". After she sang "Could've Been" by Tiffany on the top 12 girls night, judge Simon Cowell commented that she would be one of the favorites to win the competition. During the top 11 finalists' performance on the March 22, 2005, Idol episode, Underwood sang a rendition of the number one 1980s rock hit "Alone", made famous by Heart, and Cowell correctly predicted that Underwood would not only win the competition, but she would also outsell all previous Idol winners. One of the show's producers later said she dominated the voting, winning every week by a large margin. On May 25, 2005, Underwood became the season four winner. Her winnings included a recording contract worth at least a million dollars, use of a private jet for a year, and a Ford Mustang convertible.Biography Today, p. 148
2005–2007: Some Hearts and breakthrough Underwood's music career began with the release of her first single, "Inside Your Heaven", on June 14, 2005. The song debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with Underwood becoming only the third artist to debut in the top slot since chart policy changed in 1998. She also broke Billboard chart history as the first country music artist ever to debut at number 1 on the Hot 100 and the song became the first song from a country artist to go to number 1 on the Hot 100 since country group Lonestar's "Amazed" did so in 2000. "Inside Your Heaven" is the only single by a solo country artist in the decade of 2000–2009 to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Pop 100 and on the Canadian Singles Chart, topping it for seven consecutive weeks, becoming the longest-running number one single of 2005 in Canada. It sold nearly one million copies and was certified Platinum by the RIAA and double platinum by the CRIA.
Underwood's debut album, Some Hearts, was released on November 15, 2005, entering the Billboard charts with 315,000 copies sold, debuting at number 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums and at number 2 on the Billboard 200. The large first week sales of Some Hearts made it the biggest debut of any country artist since the advent of the SoundScan system in 1991. Some Hearts became the best-selling album of 2006 in all genres in the United States. The album was also the best-selling country album of both 2006 and 2007, making Underwood the first female artist in Billboard history to earn back-to-back honors for Top Country Album. Additionally, it was the best-selling female country album of 2005, 2006, and 2007. Some Hearts has since become the fastest-selling debut country album in the history of the SoundScan era, the best-selling solo female debut album in country music, the best-selling Country album of the last 14 years, and the best-selling album by an American Idol alumni in the US. The album is certified nine times platinum by the RIAA, the highest album certification of any country artist to emerge since 2000.
The album's second single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was released to radio in October and later peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, topping it for six consecutive weeks, and at number 20 on the Hot 100. The song sold over two million copies and was certified triple Platinum by the RIAA. Underwood's third single, "Some Hearts", was also released in October, but exclusively to pop radio, peaking in the top thirty of the adult contemporary charts. "Don't Forget to Remember Me", her fourth single, also proved successful, reaching number 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Later that autumn, Underwood's third country single, "Before He Cheats", hit number 1 on Billboard Hot Country Songs, staying there for five consecutive weeks. The song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, achieving the slowest climb ever to the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the record that was previously held by Creed from July 2000. In February 2008, when it was certified double Platinum, "Before He Cheats" became the first country song to ever be certified multi-platinum. It has now been certified 11× Platinum, selling more than eleven million copies, and is the fourth best-selling country digital song of all time. On April 11, 2007, Underwood continued her streak of top Country singles with the release of "Wasted", which peaked at number 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, sold more than one million copies and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. In August 2008, the "Jesus, Take the Wheel" ringtone was reported to have been certified Platinum, making Underwood the first country artist ever to have two songs hit Platinum Mastertone status together with "Before He Cheats", which had been certified earlier in 2007. Underwood started her first headlined tour, Carrie Underwood: Live 2006, with dates across North America, in April 2006.