| Carrie Underwood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Carrie Underwood |
| Born: | March 10, 1983 |
| Birth Hometown: | Muskogee, Oklahoma |
| Occupation: | Singer Songwriter Record Producer Businesswoman Actress |
| Years active: | 2005-present |
Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven," made her the only country artist to debut at number one on 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," becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history, the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history and the best-selling country album of the last 17 years. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist.
Her second album, Carnival Ride (2007), had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Its follow-up, Play On (2009), was preceded by 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 first compilation, Greatest Hits: Decade #1 (2014), broke chart and sales records and spawned the Grammy Award-winning crossover single "Something in the Water." Her fifth album, Storyteller (2015), made her the only country artist to have all 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 albums, and had both the biggest week for any album by a woman in 2018 and the best-selling solo female album of the year. Her first Christmas project, My Gift (2020), was her record-setting eighth consecutive career-opening number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Underwood has sold 70 million records worldwide. She is the sixth highest-certified female artist, the second highest-certified country artist and the highest-certified female country artist of all time on the RIAA's Top Artists (Digital Singles) ranking, also being the female artist with the most number-one entries on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, with 15. Her accolades include seven Grammy Awards, 11 Billboard Music Awards, 15 American Music Awards, a Guinness world record and inductions into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. Billboard named her the top female country artist of the 2000s and 2010s and Some Hearts the top country album of the 2000s. Pollstar ranked her among the top thirteen all-genre female touring artists of the twenty-first century, with over 4.3 million concert tickets sold. Acclaimed by Rolling Stone as "the female vocalist of her generation of any genre", she was listed by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014. Forbes has 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.
Personal life[]
Marriage and children[]
Underwood began dating NHL player Mike Fisher after they met at one of her concerts in late 2008, and she became engaged to him in December 2009. According to the Canadian press, Fisher proposed in Ottawa on December 20. Underwood's engagement ring features a yellow diamond and was valued at $150,000. On July 10, 2010, Underwood and Fisher wed at The Ritz-Carlton Lodge in Greensboro, Georgia, with more than 250 people in attendance. The couple's first son, Isaiah Michael Fisher, was born in 2015. In 2019, their second son, Jacob Bryan Fisher, was born.
In between their births, Underwood had three miscarriages, and told CBS News in 2018 that this was the basis for her song "Cry Pretty" where "I would have these horrible things going on in my life, and then have to go smile and, like, do some interviews or, like, do a photo shoot or something".
On February 11, 2011, an Ottawa radio station, 105.3 CISS-FM, stated that it would ban the playing of Underwood's music because her husband, Mike Fisher, was traded to the Nashville Predators the day before. Due to Underwood's fans' threats on Facebook to never tune into the radio station, the station later modified its statement. It apologized for its actions, saying that its statements were meant to be taken as a joke, as it does not play Underwood's country songs anyway, and it was its tongue-in-cheek way of wishing Fisher the best of luck in Nashville. Fisher later criticized the station saying "obviously Carrie had nothing to do with the move or the trade or anything so to imply something like that was just wrong", and noting that both he and Underwood were disappointed in the negativity the radio station created. Underwood was selected by The Hockey News on its annual list of the 100 People of Power and Influence in Ice Hockey. For the 2012 list, Underwood ranked at No. 85.
In 2010, Underwood and Fisher bought a mansion on eleven acres near Ottawa in the luxurious Spruce Ridge district. The couple later put the mansion up for sale at an asking price of $2.2 million. In 2012, the couple bought a cottage outside of Nashville. They use the cottage for weekend getaways. Oprah toured the cottage and interviewed Underwood and Fisher there for their appearance on Oprah's Next Chapter.
The couple discussed their marriage, children and faith in a series hosted by the site I Am Second.
Personal interests[]
Underwood is a practicing Christian, and is also an animal lover and a vegan. She stopped eating meat at the age of thirteen because she could not stand the thought of eating one of her own animals. She was voted "World's Sexiest Vegetarian" by PETA in 2007 for the second time, the first being in 2005 alongside Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who was himself a vegetarian at the time. In a 2007 interview with PETA, Underwood stated, "Ever since I was little I loved animals [...] If you told me I could never sing again, I'd say that was horrible, but it's not my life. If you told me I could never be around animals again, I would just die." In April 2013, Underwood spoke out with disapproval regarding the Tennessee "Ag Gag bill". The bill makes it a crime to videotape animal cruelty or abuse and then fail to turn in the evidence to authorities within 48 hours. This is to stop animal rights activists from accumulating enough documentation to prove that animal cruelty is routine in big agribusiness. Underwood tweeted, "Shame on TN lawmakers for passing the Ag Gag bill. If Gov. Bill Haslam signs this, he needs to expect me at his front door. Who's with me?" State Rep. Andy Holt responded to her tweet, saying, "I would say that Carrie Underwood will stick to singing, I'll stick to lawmaking." Underwood later responded via Twitter, "I should stick to singing? Wow...sorry, I'm just a tax-paying citizen concerned for the safety of my family. #NoAgGag". She also tweeted Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, saying "Please don't sign the Ag Gag bill. Think about the welfare of the animals as well as the consumers. I'm begging you..."
Underwood has stated that she has a great interest in sports. She has participated in the annual City of Hope Celebrity Softball tournament for charity for many years. The event takes place in Nashville, Tennessee, and benefits research for life-threatening diseases. In 2005, she performed the "Star-Spangled Banner" at Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons, and in 2006 at the NBA All-Star Game. She performed at halftime of the 2006 Thanksgiving Day football game at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, and was friends with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. She also performed the "Star-Spangled Banner" at the NFC Championship Game between the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers in 2006, as well as at the 2006 edition of NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600, the MLB All Star Game in Pittsburgh, and at Game 3 of the 2007 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies. On February 7, 2010, Underwood performed the National Anthem for Super Bowl XLIV.
Underwood has performed the opening theme song for NBC Sunday Night Football since 2013. Faith Hill later expressed full support for Underwood, congratulating her via Twitter and stating that it was "an awesome choice" by NBC/SNF and that Underwood "will rock it". Underwood's original song was a modification of her song "Oh, Sunday Night", but was changed to an original song, "Game On", for the 2018 NFL season. She sang the National Anthem for the Nashville Predators prior to their victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs and prior to their victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 2 of the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.