Carrie Underwood

Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" (2005) made her the first country artist to debut atop 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", and became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo female country artist. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. Her next studio album, ''Carnival Ride'' (2007), had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, ''Play On'' (2009), produced 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 compilation album, ''Greatest Hits: Decade #1'' (2014), broke multiple chart and sales records upon release, and spawned the Grammy-winning crossover single "Something in the Water". Her fifth studio album, ''Storyteller'' (2015), made her the only country artist to have all first five 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 studio albums and had the biggest week for any album by a woman in 2018. In the 2020s, she has released her first Christmas album, ''My Gift'' (2020), won the Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album with her first gospel album, ''My Savior'' (2021), and reinforced her country pop image with her 2022 studio album, ''Denim & Rhinestones''.

Underwood is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 85 million records worldwide. She is the highest-certified (digital singles) female country artist of all time and one of the 15 highest-certified female artists in the US, also being the female artist with the most number-one singles (16) on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart. ''Billboard'' ranked her the top female country artist of the 2000s and 2010s, and ''Some Hearts'' the top country album of the 2000s. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, 12 ''Billboard'' Music Awards, 17 American Music Awards, five Guinness World Records and inductions into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. ''Rolling Stone '' applauded 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, releasing her fitness clothing line CALIA by Carrie in 2015 and the ''New York Times'' best-selling fitness and lifestyle book ''Find Your Path'' in 2020. Provided by Wikipedia