Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country 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. Underwood's single "Inside Your Heaven" (2005) made her the first country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Bolstered by further crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), became the best-selling debut album of all time by a solo female country artist, was ranked by Billboard the top country album of the 2000s, and earned Underwood three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. She followed it with Carnival Ride (2007), which sold over half a million copies in its first week and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), yielded the chart-topping single "Cowboy Casanova".Underwood achieved the second best-selling release by a woman in 2012 and won a Grammy Award with her fourth album, Blown Away (2012). Her compilation album, Greatest Hits: Decade #1 (2014), broke multiple chart and sales records upon release, and spawned the Grammy-winning crossover single "Something in the Water". Her fifth studio album, Storyteller (2015), made her the only country artist to have all first five 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 studio albums and had the biggest week for any album by a woman in 2018. In the 2020s, she has released her first Christmas album, My Gift (2020), won the Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album with her first gospel album, My Savior (2021), and reinforced her country pop image with her 2022 studio album, Denim & Rhinestones.Underwood is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 42 million singles and 18 Million albums worldwide. She is the highest-certified (digital singles) female country artist and one of the 15 highest-certified female artists of all time, also being the female artist with the most number-one singles (16) on the US Country Airplay chart. Billboard ranked her the top female country artist of the 2000s and 2010s, while Pollstar ranked her amongst the 15 highest-grossing female touring artists of the past four decades. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards, the most Billboard Music Awards (12), American Music Awards (17), and Guinness World Records (5) among female country artists, as well as inductions into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. Rolling Stone applauded 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. 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.On January 13, 2025, it was announced that Underwood would perform "America the Beautiful" at the second inauguration of President Donald Trump on January 20 of the same year.Underwood is of English, German, Irish, and Scottish descent. She has been married to retired professional hockey star Mike Fisher since 2010. As of January 2025, she has amassed 13.1 million Instagram followers, and 7.9 million followers on X.