Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven", made her the only country artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history, the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history and the best-selling country album of the last 17 years. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist.
Her second album, Carnival Ride (2007), had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Its follow-up, Play On (2009), was preceded by the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100. She achieved the second best-selling release by a woman in 2012 and won a Grammy Award with her fourth album, Blown Away (2012). Her first compilation, Greatest Hits: Decade #1 (2014), broke chart and sales records and spawned the Grammy Award-winning crossover single "Something in the Water". Her fifth album, Storyteller (2015), made her the only country artist to have all studio albums reach either numbers one or two on the Billboard 200 chart. With her sixth album, Cry Pretty (2018), she became the only woman to top the Billboard 200 with four country albums, and had both the biggest week for any album by a woman in 2018 and the best-selling solo female album of the year. Her first Christmas project, My Gift (2020), was her record-setting eighth consecutive career-opening number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven", made her the only country artist to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history, the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history and the best-selling country album of the last 17 years. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist.
Her second album, Carnival Ride (2007), had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Its follow-up, Play On (2009), was preceded by the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100. She achieved the second best-selling release by a woman in 2012 and won a Grammy Award with her fourth album, Blown Away (2012). Her first compilation, Greatest Hits: Decade #1 (2014), broke chart and sales records and spawned the Grammy Award-winning crossover single "Something in the Water". Her fifth album, Storyteller (2015), made her the only country artist to have all studio albums reach either numbers one or two on the Billboard 200 chart. With her sixth album, Cry Pretty (2018), she became the only woman to top the Billboard 200 with four country albums, and had both the biggest week for any album by a woman in 2018 and the best-selling solo female album of the year. Her first Christmas project, My Gift (2020), was her record-setting eighth consecutive career-opening number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
