Carrie Underwood

Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American country singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season in 2025. Underwood's first single, "Inside Your Heaven" (2005), made her the first-ever country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist to top the Hot 100 in the 2000s. Bolstered by further crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and the Diamond-certified "Before He Cheats", Underwood's first album, Some Hearts (2005), became the best-selling debut album by a solo female country artist, ranked by Billboard as the top country album of the 2000s. It won her three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. She followed it with Carnival Ride (2007), which sold more than a half million copies in its first week and won two Grammy Awards. Her third album, Play On (2009), made her the only woman to release eleven consecutive top-two singles and the first since the 1980s to accumulate ten number-ones in US country radio. Underwood achieved the second-best selling female release of 2012 and won a Grammy Award with her fourth album, Blown Away (2012). Her compilation album, Greatest Hits: Decade #1 (2014), broke multiple chart and sales records, while spawning the Grammy-winning crossover single "Something in the Water". Her next album, Storyteller (2015), made her the only country artist to have all of their first five studio albums reach either number 1 or 2 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 studio albums. In the 2020s, she released her first Christmas album, My Gift (2020); won the Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album with My Savior (2021); and reinforced her country pop image with Denim & Rhinestones (2022). With a total of over 95 million certified units sold in the US alone—inclusive of albums and songs—Underwood is the highest-certified female country artist and one of the best-selling music artists. She is also the female artist with the most number-one singles (16) on the US Country Airplay chart. 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. 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. Outside of music, Underwood has ventured into fashion and writing. She released her fitness clothing line Calia by Carrie in 2015 and The New York Times best-selling lifestyle book Find Your Path in 2009.