The 40-year-old Oklahoma country darling Carrie Underwood is an example of the American Dream.
Videos by American Songwriter
The singer, who rose to fame after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, hasn’t looked back. Thanks to her single “Inside Your Heaven,” Underwood became the only country artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a No. 1 song on the Hot 100.
Underwood’s 2005 album, Some Hearts, included hit singles “Before He Cheats” and “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” Since then, she’s released her 2007 album, Carnival Ride, and her 2009 LP, Play On, which earned her global fame and multiple Grammy Awards. Indeed, it would seem nearly everything she’s touched has earned accolades and attention.
[RELATED: Watch: Axl Rose Joins Carrie Underwood for “Welcome to the Jungle”]
In that way, she’s country music’s Midas. To date, the artist has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide with no sign of slowing down. She’s also worked with seemingly every artist under the sun, from Jason Aldean to Ludacris. But, some may wonder, what does Underwood have to say about the world around her? What are her thoughts on life, love, and her craft?
Here are the 30 best Carrie Underwood quotes.
1. “I grew up in church, and I have a wonderful family that always supported that.”
2. “After I released ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel,’ people started saying, ‘Oh, it’s kind of risky. You’re coming out with a religious song.’ And I was thinking, ‘Really? I grew up in Oklahoma; I always had a close relationship with God.’ I never thought it was risky in the least. If anything, I thought it was the safest thing I could do.”
3. “Occasionally, I’ll be on the Internet and see something about me and give in to the urge to click on it. It’s hard not to. Usually, I wish I didn’t.”
4. “I’ve seen people that get onstage and sing while they have tears running down their face—I can’t do that. When I cry, it starts like in my throat, so when I have something that’s really emotional, sometimes if I access that too much, I can’t finish the song.”
[RELATED: Top 10 Songs by Carrie Underwood]
5. “The TV is often on in our house, but I really only keep up with three shows: ‘American Idol,’ ‘Modern Family’ and ‘The Walking Dead.’ Sometimes I’ll sip red wine—it’s a nice way to slow down and relax.”
6. “In the romantic sense, I’m pretty useless with guys. If I see somebody who I’m attracted to, generally I just think, ‘Oh well, he’s not interested in me.’ The only time that I talk to guys is when they talk to me first.”
7. “I live in Nashville, and I love to sing. When I’m on stage, I feel like a performer for sure. I know people are looking at me and taking pictures and singing along, and that part’s wonderful, but I do live in Nashville. I live the most boring life away from what you see me on camera doing.”
8. “I’ve heard all kinds of crazy rumors about myself. I’ve even heard that I’m pregnant! I’ve become real good about laughing things off—I figure I’d better get used to it.”
9. “I’ve never really been anywhere, and now I get to go everywhere. I just have to make sure there’s enough memory on my computer to hold all my pictures.”
10. “I love making music and all that, but at the end of the day I don’t think that’s what people are going to remember about a person.”
11. “I’m kind of a nervous person in general. I’m socially awkward. I’m not tall and sensuous. I usually wear sweats everywhere I go. Oh, and I burp a lot.”
12. “Getting revenge on a guy is just not worth it to me. I mean, it definitely sucks at the time, but obviously, you’re not supposed to be with that person.”
13. “I feel like I’m a product of this generation where everybody listens to charts with diverse music.”
14. “I love being around my friends and my family and spending time with my husband. I like being normal and recharging my batteries, and I feel like I have the coolest job in the world where I get to get on stage and perform and get to do a lot of really amazing things.”
15. “If something can be said to make an awkward moment even worse, I’m going to say it.”
[RELATED: Carrie Underwood’s Chill-Inducing Voice on Full Display at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena]
16. “The only reason I felt like I could sing a song like ‘Blown Away’ is because I have definitely lived through my fair share of trips to the cellar in the spring. We were no strangers to that. I still ask my mom, ‘Is the cellar cleaned out now? Is everything OK?’ Even in my new house, I had something built in it that’s like a storm shelter.”
17. “When I’m with my parents, that’s the place I can unplug. That’s the place I can shut down and not worry about work or what’s going on. I go home and hang out with them. I sleep more there than any place else ever.”
18. “I say what I need to, not a whole lot more.”
19. “It’s great when you can write a meaningful song that touches people, but sometimes you just wanna have fun and sing a silly song that doesn’t reflect on you as a person.”
20. “I grew up listening to everything. I have such a love for music, but I don’t want to make the same album over and over again.”
21. “So many people always try to help me carry my luggage and help me do things I can do myself. If I can do it myself, I’m going to do it myself. I’m not going to let other people do it for me, and I think that’s a big part of where I came from. I’m not a real prissy girl.”
22. “My inner rock chick has always been there. I grew up listening to a lot of rock music through my sisters, who were teenagers while I was young, so they had control of the radio.”
23. “I love going out to clubs. Granted, I don’t get hammered or do anything to embarrass myself. I’d call myself wholesome… but it’s not like I only drink milk.”
24. “I think after coming off of ‘American Idol’… people kind of expect you to just be awesome all the time, and we’re still learning. I had a lot of stage experience, but it was in a 200-seat theater, you know—it wasn’t thousands of people in front of me.”
25. “Successful people have a social responsibility to make the world a better place and not just take from it.”
[RELATED: 5 Deep Cuts from Carrie Underwood That You Should Be Listening To]
26. “At first, it was hard to sit down and read the things that people were saying. A lot of people would’ve worked their way up to this position and would’ve gotten a thick skin over a few years’ time. For me, though, all this happened in a few months.”
27. “Throw caution to the wind and just do it.
28. “Singing is just a feeling set to music.”
29. “An Oklahoma girl like me wouldn’t even know how to be a diva. I’m just a person who has a cool job. I love to be at home. I rarely go to clubs… and I always wear underwear! I just know I’d fall down, and that’s not for everyone to see.”
30. “Every day is a new day, and you’ll never be able to find happiness if you don’t move on.”
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
