Carrie Underwood was crowned as the winner of American Idol in 2005 and has since been a force to reckon with. With an endless stream of hits, she’s reached her loyal fan base across the globe – it’s hard for just one highlight!
We’ve narrowed down our favorites on this list to Carrie Underwood’s Top 10 songs.
10. How Great Thou Art
There have been several notable singers who have performed their own cover of this classic song, and Carrie Underwood’s version is among the best, no questions asked! With her powerful, soulful vocals that will give you chills.
“How Great Thou Art” is actually a Christian hymn that has roots that go back to the 1880s. Originally, the song was a poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg of Sweden. It was later on translated into English by Stuart K. Hine, who also added additional lyrics into it and eventually recorded by Bille Carle as a worship song. Its popularity soared from there.
9. Cry Pretty
The song was penned by Carrie Underwood together with three other incredible women: Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose, and Lori McKenna. “Cry Pretty” speaks to some personal issues that the singer went through in 2017, like her three miscarriages that year. And to add more pain to what was already a deeply challenging year. The singer fell outside her Nashville home, breaking her wrist and injuring her face so severely that she required dozens of stitches.
According to the singer’s website, the song’s title refers “to when emotions take over, and you just can’t hold them back. It really speaks to a lot of things that have happened in the past year, and I hope when you hear it, you can relate those feelings to those times in your life. It’s emotional. It’s real. And it ROCKS!”
8. Mama’s Song
Carrie Underwood co-wrote the tear-jerking country ballad “Mama’s Song” as a way of saying goodbye to the woman who raised her after meeting her true love.
The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also earned a Grammy Awards nomination for Best Country Solo Performance, and it won two American Country Awards for Female Single of the Year and Female Music Video of the Year, and a BMI Award, for Songwriter of the Year.
7. Southbound
“Southbound” is the party anthem of her 2018 studio album Cry Pretty. The song is all about tan lines, “redneck margaritas” and drinking with friends out on the water during the summer season.
“It was looking for that extra piece to the puzzle that was missing and coming in, being like, ‘I know we kind of need something lighter and fun,'” the American Idol alum said about “Southbound” as most of the songs in her sixth studio album were more serious songs, heavier songs or slower songs. “We just kind of needed that fresh piece,” she said.
However, she has also admitted that it’s ‘tricky’ to write a drinking song as a woman.
6. Love Wins
Carrie Underwood proves that she’s not afraid to address bigger issues with “Love Wins.”
“We weren’t trying to speak negatively about our world because we live in an amazing world, but I feel like we get really caught up in surface things, and I feel like, in this world, we’re quick to get angry at each other,” Underwood said.
“I personally think that we’re all different for a reason. I feel like if you just sit down and talk to somebody who’s not like you and keep it calm, we can all learn from each other.”
5. Blown Away
Carrie Underwood sings about a story of a daughter locking herself in a storm cellar as her alcoholic father passed out on the couch in “Blown Away.” Underwood revealed that this song defined the direction of the album. She recalled the very first time she heard the demo: “I listened to it on my crappy computer speakers, and then I had to go find my headphones because as soon as I listened to a few bars, I had to listen more closely and I got chills.”
She called her manager, and she said, “Do not let anyone else have this song! It’s my song.”
It met positive reviews from music critics and was commercially successful. It became the singer’s 13th No. 1 hit on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and won several awards like two Grammy Awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.
4. The Champion
Carrie Underwood’s song “The Champion” was released during the Super Bowl LII, but it has also been picked up for use during the 2018 Winter Olympics. And ever since then, the song has become an inspiring anthem for all walks of life.
While several professional sports teams have been blasting Underwood’s song in competitions, so as the regular people all over the United States. There are kids reciting the song lyrics every morning in the school’s gymnasium, and there’s a young boy who found hope in the message as he went through cancer treatments, then there’s a dance group choreographing dance moves to the song. It’s helping a lot of people.
3. See You Again
Carrie Underwood wrote this song, “See You Again,” about reuniting with a loved one in heaven with Nashville songwriter Hillary Lindsey as well as former Evanescence member David Hodges. This powerful ballad was originally intended for the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader soundtrack. However, “There’s a Place For Us,” which the same trio also wrote, was chosen instead.
Underwood said about the song that the lyrics are a spin on death. “It’s not the end,” the singer explained. “In my mind, in my faith and what I believe, there is a heaven. There is a God, and we’re going to be there someday.”
“I don’t like too many sad songs on an album,” she added, “but this one takes a sad subject and puts a faith-filled positive spin on it.”
2. Church Bells
Carrie Underwood’s No. 1 hit “Church Bells” was about sweet (and deadly) revenge by a woman scorned. One of Underwood’s patented story songs, it sings about the story of Jenny, a poor girl who married a wealthy oilman. However, she soon discovered that her new husband is an abusive alcoholic. Jenny slipped an untraceable poison into his drink and killed him.
The country superstar has called the tune “Fancy’s little sister,” referring to Bobbie Gentry’s hit song “Fancy,” made famous by Reba McEntire. And the song was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards.
1. Jesus Take The Wheel
“Jesus, Take the Wheel” is one of the first songs of Carrie Underwood after her stint in American Idol. Some Hearts is actually her debut studio album in 2005. The song tells the story of a young mother hitting a patch of black ice on the road, and recommitting herself to Christ when she comes to a safe stop.
Carrie Underwood has performed “Jesus, Take the Wheel” during multiple awards show appearances. The song also won Single of the Year at the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards, and it won the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song.
Other Carrie Underwood songs we love are “Before He Cheats,” “Two Black Cadillacs,” and “Good Girl.”
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