Carrie Underwood's a cappella rendition of "America the Beautiful" was one of the most memorable moments from Inauguration Day. When the music that was meant to accompany her didn't play, she belted out the song anyway and didn't miss a beat. Unfortunately, several media outlets have been painting it in a negative light ever since, claiming she had a "hissy fit" because of the malfunction. I'm not sure what they were watching because that's not what the rest of us saw.
Of course, the only evidence they seem to have is a screenshot taken out of context, an "anonymous source," and a lot of filler about the backlash she faced from liberals for even performing at the event. I don't know Carrie Underwood at all, but I've been a fan of hers for years, and I would be willing to bet she was nothing but gracious and this is all some continued plot to damage her reputation because she dared to do her patriotic duty and sing for her president.
As a matter of fact, Underwood has always, by most accounts, been the antithesis of your average left-wing Hollywood diva. Give me the choice between a Taylor Swift concert and a Carrie Underwood concert, and I'd pick the latter every single time. She and I are around the same age, and I kind of feel like we grew up together. I watched her back in the day when she was just a random farm girl from Oklahoma auditioning for "American Idol" and followed her through the years as she became one of country music's biggest stars. And her professional accomplishments aside, I've always admired the fact that she does stand up for what she thinks is right, whether it's animal rights or her strong Christian faith.
Anyway, I've seen several of our readers mention that they didn't know much about her before, but they'd like to know more going forward. While I'm sure she doesn't need my help selling albums, I just wanted to take some time to share some of her best music with you and prove even further that there's an extremely talented woman behind all the misleading liberal headlines.
Though Underwood has always been a country music artist, some of her songs have crossed over into pop territory, giving here a bit more mainstream exposure. As a matter of fact, her first single, "Inside Your Heaven," made her the first country music artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only one to do so during the 2000s.
In 2005, she released her first album, "Some Hearts," and the debut single from that album was "Jesus, Take the Wheel," which won her a Grammy Award for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song."
Another song from that album, "Before He Cheats," was once the best-selling country song of all time, and it's probably one of her most well-known songs to date.
"Cowboy Casanova" is another one of her big hits from her 2009 album "Play On." It's a little edgier and a little more upbeat.
One of my favorites is "Two Black Cadillacs," which is a pretty dark song. It's from the 2012 album "Blown Away."
In 2020, Underwood released the Christmas album "My Gift," which is filled with beautiful tracks. I had a hard time selecting one to post here, so I'm going to go with her rendition of one of my favorite Christmas songs, "O Holy Night."
As I said, Underwood has never shied away from her Christian faith. In 2012, she told Glamour magazine, "I’m not the first person to sing about God, Jesus or faith [or] any of that, and I won’t be the last. And it won’t be the last for me either. If you don’t like it, change the channel." In 2014, she won a Grammy Award for her song "Something in the Water," a song about being baptized.
In 2021, Underwood applied her faith to her music in the form of an entire gospel album, "My Savior." I'm a sucker for old hymns, and she covers so many great ones that it's hard to choose what to feature. I'll start with "How Great Thou Art" since one of our readers mentioned it to me last week. Make sure your volume is all the way up for this one.
I love love love this duet of "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus" with Bear Rinehart from the band Needtobreathe.
And last but not least, I love this performance she did of "Go Rest On That High Mountain" for a tribute to Vince Gill.
Of course, this is just a small glimpse at Underwood's music. She's won dozens of awards and accolades over the last two decades, including eight Grammys, sixteen Academy of Country Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, and seventeen American Music Awards. I guess sometimes the awards shows do get it right. And I think Underwood will be just fine with or without the liberal media.
