Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season in 2025. Underwood's first single, "Inside Your Heaven" (2005), made her the first-ever country artist to debut atop the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist to top the Hot 100 in the 2000s. Bolstered by further crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", Underwood's debut studio album, Some Hearts (2005), became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo female country artist, was ranked by Billboard as the top country album of the 2000s, and won her three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. She followed it with Carnival Ride (2007), which sold over half a million copies first-week and won two Grammy Awards.