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Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol.

Early years

Underwood was born either at Muskogee Regional Medical Center or at home, in Muskogee, Oklahoma and raised in her parents' farm ranch in rural Checotah, Oklahoma.

At the age of 13, her manager at the time tried to get a recording contract at Capitol Records, but due to management changes at Capitol it never materialized.

Underwood graduated from Checotah High School in 2001 as salutatorian. Underwood attended Northeastern State University, where she majored in journalism and mass communication; and is a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. She also competed in numerous beauty pageants at the university and was selected as Miss NSU runner-up in 2004.

Underwood has two older sisters, Shanna and Stephanie, born in 1974 and 1971.

Idol

Underwood's musical influences include pop, but are predominantly country; she stated during Idol auditions that her favorite singer is Martina McBride. On the April 20 elimination show, Underwood demonstrated her ability to play the guitar. She can also play piano and yodel, the latter of which was demonstrated on the Tonight Show the night after she won.

After singing Martina McBride's "Independence Day" Simon Cowell said he couldn't believe no one has discovered her yet.

On the March 22 show, after a performance of Heart's "Alone", Simon Cowell said, "Carrie, you're not just the girl to beat, you're the person to beat. I will make a prediction, not only will you win this competition, but you will sell more records than any other previous 'Idol' winner." Cowell went on to say on the March 30 show that she has the "it factor" that will make her a star.

On her last song of the night in the final two, Carrie's performance of "Angels Brought Me Here" had Simon saying, "I think you've done enough to win the competition." On May 25, 2005, she became the fourth winner of American Idol, beating Southern rocker Bo Bice, and she joins Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken as the only contestants who have never been one of the "bottom three" singers during any week's results.

Post-Idol career

As part of her title, Underwood gained a recording contract with Arista Records; her first single, "Inside Your Heaven", was released on June 14, 2005. The single debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with first-week sales of 170,000 copies, and briefly stopped Mariah Carey's run at #1 with "We Belong Together." One week later, runner-up, Bo Bice, released his version of the song, which debuted at #2. Underwood's version was shunned by country radio reaching a peak of #59 on the country charts. [1] The B-side is "Independence Day", a cover of the Martina McBride hit.

She has appeared as a guest on Canadian Idol singing "Inside Your Heaven" during the Idols 2005 tour in Toronto. Underwood performed a well-received "The Star Spangled Banner" before Game 4 of the 2005 NBA Finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. In the same year, she starred in ads for Hershey's Chocolate. The commercials have Underwood singing Hershey jingles Hershey's products such as Kit Kat and Almond Joy. She is also wearing vintage Hershey T-shirts that feature Hershey's, Almond Joy, Kit Kat, Reeses and other chocolate brand logos. The T-Shirts are now available to buy with proofs of purchase. Underwood is also the latest spokesperson for Skechers shoes, following in the footsteps of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

Underwood's second single, "Jesus, Take The Wheel" was made available for radio airplay on October 18, 2005. It received so much airplay that it debuted at #39 on the Billboard Country Chart in its first week, setting a record. It is currently ranked at #1 in its thirteenth week on that chart. The single also debuted at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it reached a peak of #25.

Her initial album release, entitled Some Hearts, hit store shelves on November 15, 2005. [2] On that same day, she presented an award and performed "Jesus, Take The Wheel" at the 39th Country Music Association awards in New York City. When the week's sales figures were tabulated, Some Hearts entered the Billboard 200 chart with 315,000 copies sold. The large first week sales of Some Hearts made it #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the biggest debut of any country artist since the advent of the SoundScan system in 1990.

In December 2005, Underwood was named "Oklahoman of the Year" by Oklahoma Today magazine.

Carrie Underwood performed in TNT's "Christmas in Washington" special, which was taped in front of President Bush's family on December 11, 2005.

Carrie Underwood hosted a 2-hour Christmas radio special "Christmas in the Country". This program was available for the radio market during late December 2005.

On January 9, 2006, Some Hearts was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA with shipments of over 2 million units, making it the fastest-selling debut country album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan.[3]

The album's title track, "Some Hearts," was released to pop and adult contemporary radio. It received moderate airplay and made it to #20 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 40.

Carrie Underwood returned to American Idol on March 2, 2006, to perform her single "Jesus, Take The Wheel".

"Don't Forget to Remember Me" was recently announced as the next single to be released to country radio.