How Carrie Underwood Changed the Face of Country Music
Ever since she won the much-coveted Idol crown in 2005, Carrie Underwood has enjoyed a very beautiful music career which turned her into a country music superstar.
Her Idol win has paved the way for a string of successes for this Checotah-native who has instantly captured the competition’s judges when she sang Bonnie Rait’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” during her audition. Since getting the golden ticket to Hollywood, Carrie Underwood has not stopped hitting it high with her songs and eventually took the title of American Idol.
Before her, there was one Idol superstar, Kelly Clarkson, the first Idol winner. She was followed by Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino. But even though there have been new winners, it was still Kelly who managed to do very well post-Idol win. When Carrie Underwood took the title, she was seen as a strong contender and did very well outside the show.
That changed when Carrie won the show. Prior to the release of her debut album Some Hearts, she first released the track “Inside Your Heaven” and enjoyed great airplay. She then went on to release a string of hits starting with “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Wasted,” “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore,” “Before He Cheats,” and a lot more. Her first album did so well it stayed at the top of the Billboard Albums chart in 2007 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.
Looking at all the achievements she has acquired over the years, one can truly say that Carrie Underwood is enjoying the peal of success through her music. Her music has crossed borders. She done consistently well not only in the country music scene but in mainstream pop as well. This is truly a remarkable feat for a once-small-town-farm-girl.
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