January 2019 30 • Singer, actress and activist Carrie Marie Underwood was born March 10, 1983, in Muskogee, Oklahoma and raised on a farm. "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." She is the daughter of a sawmill worker and an elementary school teacher. • Carrie had no formal singing lessons and she first sang in church at just 3 years old. • At 14, Carrie auditioned for record label Capitol Records. They began a contract but canceled due to change in management. • She graduated as salutatorian of her high school in 2001. • She first was employed at a gas station near her small town in Oklahoma, she admitted that she’s never been back. • After graduating from high school, Underwood attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. There, she majored in broadcast journalism and temporarily put aside her dreams of becoming a singer. Carrie spent part of her college summers as a page for Oklahoma State Representative Bobby Frame. She was once a sorority girl, representing the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and still sees some of her sisters to this day. Not only did Underwood graduate from Northeastern State University with a degree, she received magna cum laude honors for her smarts in the Mass Communication department. Just the Facts CARRIE UNDERWOOD During her senior year, in 2004, Underwood decided to try out for American Idol. Not only did she pass that audition, she went on to become the winner of the show's fourth season (2005). Carrie earned college credit for American Idol – her time on the show served as an internship. • On May 10, 2008, she was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry by country star Garth Brooks, making her the youngest member of the famed institution at 26. • Later that year, in September 2008, Underwood won the CMA Award for Female Vocalist of the Year—for the third consecutive time—for Carnival Ride. She was nominated for Album of the Year but lost the award to George Strait. Underwood also hosted the CMA Awards with fellow country star Brad Paisley, kicking off what would become an annual tradition. • In February 2009, Underwood won a Grammy Award (Best Female Country Vocal Performance) for her song "Last Name"—her fourth Grammy in three years. In November 2009, she received two more CMA nominations, for Female Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of the Year. • A few weeks before the CMAs, Underwood had released her third studio album, Play On, which produced three chart- topping tracks: "Cowboy Casanova," "Temporary Home" and "Undo It." The singer followed that success with Blown Away, released in May 2012, which had sold more than 1.4 million copies by the following year. The album's hits include "Blown Away," "Good Girl" and "Two Black Cadillacs." Stephen King’s Christine inspired her video for “Two Black Cadillacs.” • Many years ago, Underwood could have been seen on the arm of Chace Crawford, who played teen heartthrob Upper East Sider Nate Archibald in the hit television drama, Gossip Girl. The two eventually split and Underwood went on to find the man of her dreams. • The singer’s bassist, Mark Childers, introduced Carrie to Mike Fisher, then a hockey player for the Ottawa Senators. On July 10, 2010, they married at the Ritz-Carlton Resort on Lake Oconee in Georgia. Their wedding cost nearly $500,000. In February 2011, Mike was drafted by the Nashville Predators. • In September 2014, the couple announced they were expecting their first child together. Their son, Isaiah Michael Fisher, was born on February 27, 2015. Underwood announced his arrival via Twitter. On August 8, 2018, Underwood confirmed that she's expecting her second child with Fisher. "Mike, Isaiah and I are absolutely over the moon and excited to be adding another fish to our pond," the singer said. • Carrie made her acting debut in a guest-starring role on a 2010 episode of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. • 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." She then continued her work on television as Maria, alongside True Blood star Stephen Moyer, in the retelling of The Sound of Music. The TV event, which was broadcast live, more closely followed the original 1959 musical than the 1965 film starring Julie Andrews and went on to receive four Emmy nominations. • To celebrate her remarkable career, Underwood released Greatest Hits: Decade #1 in the fall of 2014. The 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." • In May 2017, it was announced 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 10th consecutive year. • On November 10, two days after the 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, though she felt improved enough to tweet an update on November 12: "Thanks so much for all the well wishes everybody," she wrote. "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 that 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." • 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. Underwood finally released a new photo on her own accord in April 2018, an uncaptioned black-and-white image of 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 song, "The Fighter." • Reese Witherspoon is her ultimate style icon. As a fashionista herself, Underwood looks up to her fellow Southern gal from Tennessee for inspiration on what to wear. “Nothing’s ever too edgy or whatever. It’s all very pretty and feminine and ladylike,” she says of Witherspoon. • She’s secretly been tatted up. Hidden on her hips, Underwood keeps it rather hush-hush when it comes to her tattoos. • Her legs didn’t just look like that overnight. She relies on squats and lunges with weights to achieve those gorgeously toned legs. • She was a resident brace-face. Her pearly whites didn’t come easy. “I had bad teeth, too,” she told People Magazine. “I had to get braces [more than once]. I actually had them on the bottom for like three months while I was doing red carpets, but no one knew – so I felt like I had a secret.” • Underwood keeps her beverage list small. “I drink three things. I drink water, I drink coffee and I drink red wine,” she once shared. • She’s the only country musician to have her first five studio albums reach number one or two on the Billboard 200. • Before American Idol, she wasn’t close to being a frequent flyer. As a small town girl, the country singer never went on a plane until she made it to Hollywood on American Idol. • Carrie’s fans are affectionately known as Carrie’s Care Bears. • Scary movies are her go-to. The gorier, the better when it comes to Underwood’s film choices but she keeps the thriller stuff to the watching it on the big screen as she admits to not being much of a daredevil. She’s obsessed with ‘The Walking Dead’ and loves the AMC horror/drama so much that she semi-fangirled when she met Norman Reedus, who stars as Daryl Dixon in the series. • Carrie stopped eating meat at 13. Is a vegetarian and an avid supporter of animal rights. In 2005, PETA named her “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian.” • Underwood's debut album, Some Hearts (2005), quickly went multi-platinum, making it the fastest-selling female country album since the introduction of the Nielsen SoundScan in 1991. Her first single, "Inside Your Heaven," hit the top of the Billboard pop charts. 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 ACM and CMA awards for Single of the Year, along with Grammys for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best New Artist. • Carrie’s the first-ever female to win back-to-back ACM Awards for Entertainer of the Year. Her win for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2006 CMA Awards surprised many, but her subsequent string of wins at the American Music Awards, ACMs and Grammys quieted the naysayers. • In contrast to her softer-sounding material, Underwood also had great success with "Before He Cheats," a tale about a straying ex-boyfriend. The single won her a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and a CMA Award for Single of the Year in 2007. That same year, Underwood released her follow-up album, Carnival Ride. It reached the top of the album charts and scored several No. 1 country hits, including the singles "Last Name" and "All-American Girl." She’s a self-proclaimed neat freak. “I can’t function during the day if I know my bed is not made. It will be all I think about throughout the day until it’s actually made,” Underwood said a while back. “My refrigerator is extremely organized. Everything is showing the labels and is arranged in perfect rows.” Real Country Legends 96.3 welcomes Carrie Underwood to Talking Stick Resort Arena on May 9, 2019.