Carrie Underwood

1983–present

Carrie Underwood News: Singer to Perform at Trump’s Inauguration

Country music star Carrie Underwood is set to perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration at the U.S. Capitol on January 20. According to the inaugural program, the 41-year-old will sing “America the Beautiful” with the Armed Forces Chorus and the United States Naval Academy Glee Club. Her performance will take place shortly before Trump takes the presidential oath of office.

“I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event,” Underwood said in a statement on January 13. “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”

The new American Idol judge joins fellow performers The Village People, opera singer Christopher Macchio, and “God Bless the U.S.A.” singer Lee Greenwood for Trump’s inaugural festivities.

Country music star Carrie Underwood sings “Before He Cheats,” “Something in the Water,” and “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” The Oklahoma native enjoyed her first taste of stardom by winning Season 4 of American Idol. She followed with a multiplatinum debut album, 2005’s Some Hearts, and has gone on to win more than 30 awards, including eight Grammys and five Female Vocalist of the Year titles from the Country Music Association. Her eighth and most recent studio album is 2022’s Denim & Rhinestones. Underwood co-hosted the CMAs with Brad Paisley for 12 years and returns to television in March 2025 as an American Idol judge for Season 23.

FULL NAME: Carrie Marie Underwood
BORN: March 10, 1983
BIRTHPLACE: Muskogee, Oklahoma
SPOUSE: Mike Fisher (2010–present)
CHILDREN: Isaiah and Jacob
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Pisces

Carrie Marie Underwood was born on March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and raised on a farm. She is the youngest of three siblings; her older sisters are Shanna and Stephanie.

Underwood’s father, Stephen, is a former paper mill operator, while her mother, Carole, worked as an elementary school teacher for 25 years. They encouraged young Carrie to pursue her interest in the arts, with Carole sewing her outfits for talent shows. “I had a very happy childhood full of the wonderful simple things that children love to do,” Underwood has stated on her website. “Growing up in the country, I enjoyed things like playing on dirt roads, climbing trees, catching little woodland creatures and, of course, singing.”

The aspiring performer was also a good student, graduating as salutatorian of her 2001 class at Checotah High School. Underwood then attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. There, she studied broadcast journalism and eventually received a degree in mass communications in 2006. The reason for the delay was because, in the meantime, Underwood had become a household name thanks to her participation on one of reality TV’s biggest shows.

American Idol Season 4 finalists Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood stand next to host Ryan Seacrest.

During her senior year of college in 2004, Underwood decided to try out for the fourth season of the Fox reality singing competition American Idol. According to People, Underwood was nervous to fly to St. Louis for her audition and nearly didn’t go. She ultimately made the trip with some extra encouragement from her parents. Good thing too: After passing that audition, she advanced to the show’s live performance episodes.

Her country music performances struck a chord, and Underwood quickly became a favorite in the competition. Her rendition of the Heart song “Alone” during the Top 11 round prompted often-surly judge Simon Cowell to predict that she would both win the show and outsell the three previous champions, including Kelly Clarkson.

Cowell’s intuition proved correct on May 24, 2005, when Underwood was voted the winner over finalist Bo Bice. Now with a guaranteed recording contract, Underwood was set to take her growing fandom to an even higher level.

Carrie Underwood has released eight studio albums in her two-decade career.

Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts (2005), quickly went multiplatinum, making it the fastest-selling female country album since the introduction of the Nielsen SoundScan in 1991. (To date, Some Hearts has sold the equivalent of 9 million copies.) Her first single, “Inside Your Heaven,” hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It remains her only No. 1 song on the mainstream song chart.

Her follow-up single, “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” then shot to the top of the country charts. The song proved to be a critical success as well, winning Underwood the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Country Music Association (CMA) awards for Single of the Year, along with Grammys for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best New Artist.

In contrast to the softer-sounding material on Some Hearts, Underwood also had great success with “Before He Cheats,” a tale about a straying ex-boyfriend. The song won her the CMA Award for Single of the Year in 2007 and the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance the following year.

No. 1 Albums: Carnival Ride, Play On, and Blown Away

Amid the success, Underwood released her sophomore effort, Carnival Ride, in November 2007. It was her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, starting a string of chart-topping records. Carnival Ride also led the Top Country Albums chart and scored several No. 1 country hits, including “Last Name” and “All-American Girl.”

When Carrie Underwood was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, the then-26-year-old was the youngest member to join the famed institution.

On May 10, 2008, at the age of 26, Underwood was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by country star Garth Brooks, making her the youngest member welcomed to the famed institution. (That mark stood until the 2019 induction of 25-year-old Kelsea Ballerini, with Underwood handling the ceremony.) Before the month was over, Underwood also earned her first of back-to-back Entertainer of the Year titles at the 2008 ACM Awards.

Trophies kept coming. That September, Underwood won her third consecutive CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year. Carnival Ride was nominated for Album of the Year but lost to George Strait’s Troubadour. Still, Underwood got plenty of airtime as one of the ceremony’s co-hosts alongside fellow country star Brad Paisley, kicking off what would become an annual tradition. In February 2009, Underwood won again the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her song “Last Name,” marking her fourth Grammy in three years.

Her critical appeal continued over the next several years with a slew of award nominations and some wins, including a fifth Grammy for a remix of her song “I Told You So” featuring Randy Travis. Underwood’s commercial success followed in lockstep. Play On, her third studio album that released in November 2009, produced three No. 1 country songs: “Cowboy Casanova,” “Temporary Home,” and “Undo It.” Like Carnival Ride and Play On before it, 2012’s Blown Away topped the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. Its most popular songs included the Grammy-winning title track, “Good Girl,” and “Two Black Cadillacs.”

Sunday Night Football Theme Song

In May 2013, it was announced that Underwood would be taking the reins from fellow country star Faith Hill to perform the weekly Sunday Night Football theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” which kicks off the broadcast for the weekly NFL game on NBC. Originally performed by Pink in 2006, the track is an altered version of the Joan Jett & the Blackhearts song “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” with lyrics themed to football.

Underwood debuted two of her own variations of the theme, “Oh, Sunday Night” in 2016 and “Game On” in 2018. However, many fans reacted negatively to the latter, and the singer and NBC have used the original track ever since. The song’s popularity has transcended football, with TV shows such as Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock, and South Park either referencing or creating a parody of the track.

In 2019, Underwood and legendary rocker Jett collaborated on the song in celebration of the NFL’s 100^th anniversary. “I grew up watching football. To kind of have a small part in this amazing game, Sunday Night Football, is an honor, and it is fun,” Underwood said that same year.

Second Decade of Success

As she approached 10 years of country music stardom, Underwood released Greatest Hits: Decade #1 in the fall of 2014. The compilation album also featured some new material, including the hit “Something in the Water,” which later earned a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance. In autumn 2015, she dropped her fifth studio album, Storyteller, featuring the top 5 country single “Smoke Break.” The record contributed to her Female Vocalist of the Year title at the 2016 CMA Awards.

In May 2017, news broke that Underwood would be inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. “I’ve always been proud to say I’m from Oklahoma,” the singer responded. “The people, culture, and environment molded me into the person I am today.” The official ceremony was set for November, shortly after Underwood’s return to the stage to co-host the CMA Awards, alongside Brad Paisley, for the 10^th consecutive year. Her final year hosting the ceremony was in 2019.

Cry Pretty, her 2018 album, followed Underwood’s recovery from a major fall at her home. The hotly anticipated project became her fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 upon its September debut. “Cry Pretty” and “End Up with You” were its most popular songs. Two months later, Underwood accepted her fifth Female Vocalist of the Year trophy at the 2018 CMAs. The following spring, the singer received her third Entertainer of the Year title at the 2019 ACM Awards.

Come 2020, the Grammy winner delivered a Christmas album titled My Gift. It included Underwood’s renditions of several classic songs as well as two original songs, “Let There Be Peace” and “Sweet Baby Jesus.”

Sticking with faith-based material, Underwood released a gospel album in 2021. My Savior went on to win Best Roots Gospel Album at the 2022 Grammys, marking her eighth career trophy from the Recording Academy. That year, she was also nominated for the Best Country Duo Performance Grammy for her collaboration with Jason Aldean on “If I Didn’t Love You.”

Underwood’s latest record, Denim & Rhinestones, came out in June 2022. It’s her first album not to lead Billboard’s Top Country Albums, though it still peaked at a respectable No. 2. In June 2023, the singer launched Carrie’s Country, a SiriusXM satellite radio channel that plays music by Underwood’s friends and influences and shares behind-the-scenes stories from her life and career. She has since added workout and faith-based music channels on the network.

Trying her hand at acting, Underwood starred as Maria, alongside True Blood star Stephen Moyer’s Captain von Trapp, in The Sound of Music Live! The TV event, which was broadcast live in 2013, more closely followed the original 1959 musical than the 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and went on to receive four Emmy nominations.

Underwood is set to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 and will later appear as a judge on Season 23 of American Idol, which premieres in March on ABC.

On November 10, 2017, two days after that year’s CMAs, Underwood suffered a scare when she fell outside her home. According to her publicist, the singer was treated at a nearby hospital for injuries that included a broken wrist, cuts, and abrasions. “Thanks so much for all the well wishes everybody,” she wrote on Twitter (now X) two days later. “I’ll be alright.. might just take some time.. glad I’ve got the best hubby in the world to take care of me.”

However, in a post to her fan club members at the turn of the new year, Underwood revealed the injury was more serious than initially described, as the “cuts and abrasions” required 40 to 50 stitches to her face. “I am determined to make 2018 amazing and I want to share things with you along the way,” she wrote. “And when I am ready to get in front of a camera, I want you all to understand why I might look a bit different.”

After recovering from a serious fall at her home, Carrie Underwood made her public reappearance at the 2019 ACM Awards.

The first post-accident photo of Underwood surfaced in December 2017 from former Below Deck castmate Adrienne Gang, who posted a shot of the two posing at the gym. An April 2018 photo was among the first Underwood released on her own accord. The uncaptioned black-and-white image showed the singer seemingly focused on work in a recording studio.

On April 15, Underwood made her eagerly anticipated return to the stage at the ACM Awards. Her face showing little signs of the traumatic incident, she delivered a powerful performance of her new song, “Cry Pretty,” drawing an extended standing ovation from the audience. Still visibly emotional, Underwood was back in the spotlight moments later, joining Keith Urban to accept the Vocal Event of the Year Award for their duet “The Fighter.”

Carrie Underwood and former NHL hockey player Mike Fisher have been married since July 2010.

Underwood is married to former NHL hockey player Mike Fisher. The two met in 2008 during a backstage meet-and-greet at one of her concerts. After dating long-distance for much of that year—Fisher was on the roster for the Ottawa Senators at the time—the couple became engaged in 2009 and married on July 10, 2010.

The singer and her husband, who retired from professional hockey in 2018, have two kids. In September 2014, the pair announced they were expecting their first child together. Their son Isaiah was born in late February 2015. In August 2018, Underwood confirmed she was expecting the couple’s second child. “Mike, Isaiah and I are absolutely over the moon and excited to be adding another fish to our pond,” the singer said. Their second son, Jacob, was born in January 2019.

“I admire Carrie as a mom most,” Fisher told People that year. “She is so good with our boys and loves us all so well.”

Celebrity Net Worth estimates Underwood’s total fortune to be around $120 million as of January 2025. In addition to earnings from her music, Underwood has also benefitted from partnerships with brands such as Target, Sketchers, The Hershey Company, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

• I had a very happy childhood full of the wonderful simple things that children love to do. Growing up in the country, I enjoyed things like playing on dirt roads, climbing trees, catching little woodland creatures and, of course, singing.

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