Changing the Face of Country Music The Way Carrie Underwood Does It
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.
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.
When she won, only one out of the three previous Idol winners has been successful. The first Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, was still enjoying the success brought mainly by her Idol exposure three years after she broke through the music scene. And even though two other winners have emerged-Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino-she is still the only Idol winner who has did well post-competition.
After she won, both Idol winners were clear front runners in the mainstream music scene. And each of the girls excelled in their respective fields. After her historic win, Carrie Underwood released her winning piece “Inside Your Heaven.” That single did well in the charts. It was a good prelude to her debut album, Some Hearts, which included the song as a bonus track. She set a record with the release of Some Hearts. It debuted at the top of the Billboard Albums chart and stayed there for eleven weeks. It gave birth to hit singles like Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Wasted,” “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore,” and “Before He Cheats.”
She managed to nab several awards for her first venture into the music scene. Her single “Jesus, Take the Wheel” was responsible for her awards given by different award-giving bodies like the Gospel Music Association, CMT, Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, American Music Awards, Billboard, and the Grammys.
Although she has already enjoyed a very good music career with her first album, Carrie Underwood didn’t stop there. When she released her second record Carnival Ride, she added five more number one country hits to her resume: “So Small,” “All American Girl,” “Last Name,” “Just a Dream,” and “I Told You So.”
After four years, Carrie Underwood has done excellently well in terms of record sales compared to other American Idol contestants. She has sold nearly 10 million copies worldwide as well as 10.7 million digital downloads. She also has several endorsement deals that added to her income. Since June 2008, she has earned about $14 million. Forbes.com recently named her as the top earner out of all the American Idol contestants, surpassing Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, and Jennifer Hudson.
Her musical success is clearly undeniable. In a short span of time, Carrie Underwood has already achieved what other artists could only dream of.
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