9781422273227

in 2006 and became the first multi-platinum country single ever. That means that song alone sold more than 4 million copies in that year. Some Hearts went on to produce a total of three Number 1 country singles and was Billboard’s Top Country Album in both 2006 and 2007. It has sold more than 8 million copies, making it one of the top 100 selling albums of all time. Underwood was honored greatly for its success, winning two Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 2007 and again in 2008 and another Grammy for Best New Artist in 2007. She also picked up an Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award in 2006 and a Country Music Association Award (CMA) in 2007 for the singles “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats,” respectively. In 2006, Underwood embarked on a six-month live tour to promote Some Hearts , billed simply as Carrie Underwood: Live in Concert. The tour made 41 stops in the United States and one in Canada. In a matter of weeks, Underwood went from being an unknown country girl from a small rural town to one of the biggest stars in the country, selling out concerts from coast-to-coast. It was beyond anything she could have dreamed about just a few months earlier. HOME SWEET CHECOTAH “Where sixty-nine meets forty, there’s a single-stoplight town,” begin the lyrics to Underwood’s hit song, “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore,” which appeared near the end of Some Hearts . Her roots were clearly on her mind as she wrote that song. Carrie Underwood was born on March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Her parents, Mike and Carole, owned a small farm just south of Checotah and already had two daughters, Shanna and Stephanie, who were thirteen and ten years older than Underwood. Carole taught at Checotah’s only elementary school, and Mike worked at a paper mill. The town had about 3,500 residents, and Underwood remembered it as a perfect example of small-town America. It was so small, in fact, that Underwood’s mother was her teacher at Marshall Elementary. Underwood’s first love was animals, and she loved taking care of the cows.

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a star is born

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