36 Photos of Carrie Underwood Young

It's hard to believe that before 2005, nobody — other than her circle of friends and family — knew the name Carrie Underwood.

Underwood became an instant star in 2005, when she won Season 4 of American Idol. After that day, life forever changed for the young lady from Oklahoma, as did country music as a whole.

"Inside Your Heaven," her first official single, made Underwood the first country artist to debut on the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a No. 1 song on the Hot 100.

Since then, she has released nine studio albums, one greatest hits project and 29 singles — and counting. She has had 16 No.1 songs on the Billboard Country Airplay chart to date. In 2024, Underwood is one of the world's most successful female artists of all-time, all genres. Her awards and accolades read something like a CVS receipt.

She is the most awarded country music artist ever: Underwood has eight Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, sixteen ACM Awards, seventeen American Music Awards, nine CMA Awards and twenty three CMT Awards — but who's counting?

Let's take a journey through Underwood's humble beginnings and see where the "Out of My Truck" singer got her personality and fortitude.