Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983 in Muskogee, Oklahoma) is an American country singer-songwriter who won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. She is also a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer. Her debut single, Inside Your Heaven, was released in summer 2005, and along with appearing on the American Idols Live Tour, 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. Underwood was the first country artist to sell that many copies of a debut album since LeAnn Rimes' Blue in 1996.
Some Hearts sold a total of 7 million RIAA-certified copies as of February 2008. In addition to being the best selling album by an American Idol contestant in the United States to date, it is also the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history. "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.
Her second album, Carnival Ride, was released on October 23, 2007. It has so far sold over 2 million copies and has produced two number one country hits, "So Small" and "All-American Girl". The album's third single, "Last Name" is currently climbing the charts. Underwood's Christmas single, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" peaked at #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. 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. Underwood has sold over 11 million copies worldwide in the last two years.