Carrie Underwood

Carrie Marie Fisher (née Underwood; born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. Known for her vocal range and dynamic stage presence, Underwood is regarded as a pivotal figure in 21st century country music. She has revitalized and sustained the presence of female country artists in popular culture since winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005.

Her first single, "Inside Your Heaven" in 2005, made her the first-ever country artist to debut atop the US Billboard Hot 100 and the only solo country artist to top the Hot 100 in the 2000s. Led by crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", her first 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. Thereafter, Carnival Ride (2007) sold over half a million copies first-week and won two Grammy Awards, while Play On (2009) made her the only woman ever to have eleven consecutive top-two singles and the first since the 1980s to attain ten number-ones at country radio.

She achieved the second-best selling female album released in 2012 and won a Grammy Award with Blown Away. A commercial success in 2014, her compilation album spawned the Grammy-winning crossover single "Something in the Water". Storyteller (2015) made her the only country artist to have all first five studio albums reach the top two on the US Billboard 200, while Cry Pretty had the largest female album debut of 2018 and made her the only woman to top the Billboard 200 with four country studio albums. In the 2020s, she has released the Christmas album My Gift (2020), won the Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album with the gospel album My Savior (2021), and reinforced her country pop image with Denim & Rhinestones in 2022.

One of the best-selling music artists, Underwood is the highest-certified female country artist by total US units sold (over 95 million albums and singles) and by digital single sales (over 72 million). She is the female artist with the most number-one singles (16) on the US Country Airplay chart, while "Before He Cheats" is the highest-certified solo female country song. Billboard ranked her as the top female country artist of the 2000s and 2010s, while Pollstar ranked her among the 15 highest-grossing female touring artists of the last four decades. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, the most Billboard Music Awards (12) and American Music Awards (17) among female country artists, seven Guinness World Records, as well as inductions into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. Additionally, Rolling Stone hailed her as "the female vocalist of her generation in any genre", Time listed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014 and Forbes declared her the most successful American Idol winner. She further starred as Maria von Trapp in the television special The Sound of Music Live! (2013), has performed and co-written the NBC Sunday Night Football intro song since 2013, and been a judge on American Idol since 2025.