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Carrie
Underwood 
The
first country American Idol, Carrie Underwood grew up
in the small town of Checotah, OK, and began singing with
her church at the tender age of three. Throughout her
childhood, she also performed at functions for the Lion's
Club and Old Settlers Day, and eventually at festivals
in several states. Along with developing her singing,
Underwood learned to play guitar and piano. She graduated
from high school as her class salutatorian and majored
in mass communication at Northeastern State College with
an eye on a career in broadcast journalism, but continued
her singing career throughout her studies.
As
a senior just a few credits short of her degree, Underwood
heard about the auditions for the 2005 season of American
Idol. She tried out for the show at the St. Louis, MO,
auditions, and her innocent charm and pure, pretty voice
ended up winning her not only a place among the 12 finalists,
but the title of 2005's American Idol. Her debut single,
Inside Your Heaven, was released that summer, and along
with appearing on the American Idols Live! tour, and picking
up endorsement deals with Hershey's and Skechers, she
began recording her debut album in Nashville. Some Hearts
was released late that fall and was a smash hit, selling
over 300,000 copies in its first week and eventually going
triple platinum. The album's lead single, "Jesus,
Take the Wheel," was also a big success, topping
Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks.
Acclaim
for the album and single spilled over into 2006, when
Some Hearts re-entered Billboard's Top Ten after Underwood's
appearance on the 2006 American Idol finale and "Jesus,
Take the Wheel" won Single Record of the Year at
the Academy of Country Music Awards (where she also won
Top Female Vocalist); a Dove Award from the Gospel Music
Association; and Breakthrough Video and Best Female Video
at the CMT Awards, making her the only double winner at
the event. Despite her hectic career as a country music
star -- which included carrying her Some Hearts tour through
the fall of 2006 -- Underwood found the time to finish
her degree and become a spokesperson for People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals (who named her 2005's World's
Sexiest Vegetarian). "Before He Cheats" was
released as Underwood's third single late in 2006, and
became her third country number one and her fourth total
number one hit. That December, she won five Billboard
Music Awards: Album of the Year, Top 200 Female Artist
of the Year, Female Country Artist, New Country Artist,
and Country Album of the Year.
Early
in 2007, Underwood began work on her second album, while
"Wasted" became the fourth single taken from
Some Hearts; she performed it on an episode of American
Idol that March, and the following month, it hit number
one on the Hot Country Songs Chart. She returned to American
Idol in April as part of the show's "Idol Gives Back"
benefit episode: Underwood visited South Africa and recorded
an acoustic cover of the Pretenders' "I'll Stand
by You," which was released exclusively on iTunes.
Underwood won three awards at the 2007 CMT Awards: Video
of the Year, Female Video of the Year, and Video Director
of the Year for the video for "Before He Cheats."
She also took home three 2007 ACM Awards in May, which
included Album of the Year for Some Hearts and Top Female
Vocalist. She made a third trip to American Idol late
in the month for the sixth season finale, where she sang
"I'll Stand by You" to a standing ovation. During
the show, Clive Davis recognized Underwood's sextuple-platinum
sales; Underwood was the first country artist to sell
that many copies of a debut album since LeAnn Rimes' Blue
in 1996. She also appeared on Brad Paisley's album 5th
Gear, which was released in June 2006. She released her
sophomore effort, Carnival Ride, in 2007. ~ Heather
Phares, All Music Guide
Here
is the best of Carrie Underwood on the net:
Glamour
with Carrie
Carrie
Underwood official website
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