Carrie Underwood

About Carrie Underwood

The first country singer to win American Idol tour. Some Hearts was released later that fall and became a smash hit, selling over 300,000 copies in its first week and eventually going platinum a whopping seven times. The album's lead single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel," was also a big success, topping Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks. nAcclaim for the album and single spilled over into 2006, when Some Hearts re-entered Billboard's Top Ten after Underwood's appearance on the 2006 American Idol late in the month for the sixth season finale, where she sang "I'll Stand by You" to a standing ovation. During the show, Clive Davis recognized Underwood's sextuple-platinum sales; Underwood was the first country artist to sell that many copies of a debut album since LeAnn Rimes' Blue in 1996. She also appeared on Brad Paisley's album 5th Gear, which was released in June 2006. nRiding on that swell of support, Underwood released the sophomore effort Carnival Ride in October 2007. Four of the album's tracks hit the top of the country charts, pushing the album to multi-million sales and earning her an additional Grammy Award. Two years after the album's release, Underwood released her third studio effort, Play On, which found her devoting more focus than ever to her songwriting abilities. She co-wrote seven of the album's tracks, including the leadoff single, "Cowboy Casanova." Underwood's fourth studio album, Blown Away, released in the spring of 2012, was produced by her longtime collaborator Mark Bright, and driven by its hit lead single, "Good Girl," it showed her continued growth from American Idol to savvy country-pop star. ~ Heather Phares & Steve Leggett, Rovi