9 Carrie Underwood Albums That We Are Grateful For

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

November 15th, 2021 12:00 AM

Today (11/15) marks the 16th Anniversary of Carrie Underwood’s debut album Some Hearts, which gave us the now country classic “Jesus Take The Wheel” and the classic revenge song, “Before He Cheats.”

In 2016, Carrie told me that after her debut album came out, she was pretty green. She said, “I don’t think I fully grasped what was happening, I don’t think I fully understood at the time of my first album. Everything happened so fast with American Idol and then the tour, making the album and then the album was out, just — bam! — everything all at the same time and then the first single and it was like number one for a zillion weeks. I thought, ‘Wow, this is how it is supposed to be every time.’ I was so naïve.”

To honor the album that started it all for the Oklahoma native and led her to superstardom, we’re ranking her nine albums.

9 Carrie Underwood Albums That We Are Grateful For

• 9. My Savior – Released – March 26, 2021

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  Carrie recorded an album of Gospel covers, saying, "This album is one that I have always wanted to make. This is legacy stuff to me. Last year was a tough year for everybody, and I think just wanting to be positive in this world and sing these songs that bring me so much joy.” Underwood performed the album at an Easter service at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in 2021. Also, at the 56th ACM awards, she performed a medley from the album, including a guest performance with Gospel great CeCe Winans.

• 8. Cry Pretty – Released – September 14, 2018

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  Carrie’s first album after her record label switch to Capitol Records Nashville. A solid piece of work. Underwood said upon its release, "At this point in my career, I feel stronger and more creative than ever. I think you can hear that in this new album. It's emotional, it's soulful, it's real, and we also have some fun on there too.” The album’s four singles were: "Cry Pretty," "Love Wins," “Southbound,” and "Drinking Alone."

• 7. Play On – Released – November 3, 2009

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  The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 318,000 copies, which was rated as the highest first-week sales for a female artist in 2009. The album spawned three consecutive Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles: "Cowboy Casanova," "Temporary Home" and "Undo It.” "Temporary Home" and "Mama's Song" were both nominated for Grammy Awards while ‘Play On’ was nominated for Album of the Year at both the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards.
• 6. Storyteller – Released – October 23, 2015

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  Focusing on her songwriting, this album produced two consecutive Billboard Country Airplay chart number-one singles in "Heartbeat" and "Church Bells," which was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards.

• 5. Carnival Ride – Released – October 23, 2007

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  This is the album where Carrie really started to get involved with the songwriting. She even set up a writer’s retreat at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium to collaborate with some of Nashville's top songwriters. Five singles were released from the album: "So Small," "All-American Girl," "Last Name," "Just a Dream," and "I Told You So," her Randy Travis remake.

• 4. My Gift – Released – September 25, 2020

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  Carrie’s first Christmas album features guest appearances from John Legend and her oldest son Isaiah. On "The Little Drummer Boy," she was going to record it alone but kept thinking about her son Isaiah and asked him if he would want to sing with her on it, to which he said "yes." It is as precious as you would hope for.
• 3. Greatest Hits: Decade #1 – Released – December 9, 2014

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  How could you not love this compilation album of number one songs from Carrie? Two newly recorded songs were included in the project "Something in the Water" and "Little Toy Guns." "Something in the Water" won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance. The following year, "Little Toy Guns" was nominated for the same award.

• 2. Some Hearts – Released – November 15, 2005

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  This album is a big reason Carrie is the superstar she is today. With songs on the project like "Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Wasted," and "Before He Cheats," this album became the best-selling album of 2006 in all genres.

• 1. Blown Away – Released – May 1, 2012

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  Carrie started work on this amazing album after her “Play On Tour” in 2010 and said at the time that she needed to step away from the "celebrity bubble" to "have real things to write about and sing about." Blown Away spawned two number one singles "Good Girl" and "Blown Away." In 2013, at the 55th Grammy Awards, she won the Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance for the song "Blown Away." The song also won Best Country Song for its songwriters.

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

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