artist case study for media: Carrie Underwood , country music

1. Artist Case Study: Carrie Underwood

2. General Information
Carrie Marie Underwood , born March 10, 1983 in Oklahoma USA. She rose to
fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. During
her childhood, Underwood performed at Robbins Memorial Talent Show, and
sang at her local church, First Free Will Baptist Church. A local admirer
arranged for her to go to Nashville when she was 14 to audition for Capitol
Records. In 1996, Capitol Records was preparing a contract for Underwood
but cancelled it when company management changed.Her career began
when she released her first single ‘Inside your Heaven’ on June 14 2005
which was a success. The genres she specializes in are:
- Country
- Country pop
- Country Rock

3. Achievements
- She won 6 Grammy awards, 16 Billboard Music awards, 11 Academy of
country music awards and 8 American music awards.
- Nominated for a Golden Globe award for best original song.
- Recognized by Rolling Stone as the female vocalist of her generation in any
genre and by Billboard as Country’s music reigning queen.
- The only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number one hit on
the Billboard Hot 100 and the first and only country artist to ever debut at
number one on the Hot 100.
- Underwood has been highly acclaimed for her vocal talents. David
Wild of Rolling Stone has praised her voice, saying that "she can hit any
note".
- Since her debut in 2005, Underwood has been highly praised by both
veteran artists and music executives and producers. Grammy Awards
executive producer Ken Ehrlich stated that Michael Jackson greatly admired
Underwood, which is why she was hand-picked to perform during his
tribute at the 2010 Grammy awards.
- Steven Tyler of Aerosmith considers her a friend and has praised
Underwood, saying: "I love her stuff.
- She has sold 64 million records globally.

4. Other Projects
- She has had many endorsements in during her career.
- She has signed multimillion dollar deals with Sketchers, Target, Nintendo,
Olay and Nicole by OPI.
- She appeared in television commercials.
- In 2010, Underwood became the spokesperson for the Pedigree adoption
drive.
- In 2011, she became the first celebrity brand ambassador for Olay skin
care. She has appeared in the global advertising campaign for their facial
wash.
- Carrie Underwood has mentioned plans of designing a line of clothing
and accessories.
- Underwood established the Checotah Animal, Town, and School
Foundation in 2009.
- She is involved with a number of organizations that benefit children.
- In May 2012, Underwood announced that she would donate $1 of every
ticket sold on Blown Away Tour to the American Red Cross.
- She also considered acting and appeared in the film ‘How I Met Your
Mother’ in 2010. This was the second highest rated episode for season
five, gaining 10.48 million viewers.