Carrie Underwood: Making a Splash in the Country Music Scene
We can say that Carrie Underwood’s music has reached its peak due to the overwhelming success the country superstar has experienced since winning the Idol crown in 2005.
This once unknown farm girl from Checotah first captured the hearts of American Idol judges when she sang “I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Rait during her audition several years ago. She earned the admiration of the judges by that piece and made her way to Hollywood where she took the stage by storm week after week. In a much-awaited finale in May of 2005, she bested co-contestant Bo Bice and took home the Idol crown.
For four seasons, Kelly Clarkson, the first Idol winner solely brandished the Idol banner in the mainstream music scene. This despite the fact that there have been two other winners after her: Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino. Aside from second season runner up Clay Aikem, Kelly was the only notable Idol contestant ruling the charts. But all of that changed when Carrie Underwood joined the champs’ circle.
As soon as she has won the show, fans and critics alike were immediately drawn to Carrie Underwood’s music. She released her winning piece. “Inside Your Heaven,” which received very good airplay. Her debut album Some Hearts was released sometime after that. And it was the start of a very fruitful career for this Checotah-native. It produced massive hits like “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Wasted,” “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore,” and “Before He Cheats.” The album landed at the top of the Billboard Albums chart and stayed there for eleven weeks.
For a newbie in the music scene, Carrie Underwood was a pro. She managed to earn the respect of her colleagues with her music and talent. As a result, she won many awards from different organizations for her first single “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” She received recognition from the CMT, Academy of Country Music, Gospel Music Association, Country Music Association, Billboard, American Music Awards, and the Grammys. Not bad for a newbie, right?
Her second album also did very well. It proved that Carrie Underwood was no one-hit wonder. Carnival Ride made it possible for the country superstar to add five more number one hits to her credit. They were “So Small,” “All American Girl,” “Last Name,” “Just a Dream,” and “I Told You So.”
Just when you think that things could not get any better for this country superstar, she was recently named by Forbes.com as the top earner out of all the other American Idol contestants. It was reported that she earned $14 million since June 2008. After four years, she has sold nearly 10 million albums and 10.7 million digital downloads. She has, once again, bested other Idol alumnus such as Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry.
Clearly, Carrie Underwood’s music has reached superstar level. This country superstar has managed to achieve in a short period of time what others would work hard for all their life. She is truly at the peak of success.
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