Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Underwood has since become one of the most prominent mainstream recording artists in the music industry, setting and breaking several records throughout her career. Her achievements led her to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2008 and into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2009. She has won a vast array of awards, including six Grammy Awards, sixteen Billboard Music Awards, eleven Academy of Country Music Awards and seven American Music Awards, along with being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
Her debut album, Some Hearts, was released in 2005. Bolstered by the huge crossover success of the singles "Before He Cheats" and "Jesus, Take the Wheel", it went on to become the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history, the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history and the best-selling country album of the last ten years. Underwood won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. Her second album, Carnival Ride, was released in 2007, with one of the biggest opening weeks by a female artist in history, and later earned Underwood two Grammy Awards, for the singles "Last Name" and "I Told You So". Released in 2009, her third album, Play On, was led by the success of its first single, "Cowboy Casanova", and finished the year as the second top-selling release by a female artist. 2012's Blown Away, her fourth album, was ranked the second best-selling release of the year by a female artist. She won a Grammy Award for the album's song "Blown Away". With over 16 million albums and 30 million singles sold worldwide, and over $100 million in tour revenues, Underwood is the biggest American Idol earner, the fourth biggest album seller of the past ten years and one of the RIAA's top digital artists of all time. Additionally, Forbes estimates that she is worth over $100 million.
