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Carrie Underwood Wants To ‘Ride and Explore’ With Her Music

Carrie Underwood is getting ready to make her debut as a judge on American Idol next month (3/9), just a day before her 42nd birthday. It’s been two years since…

Carrie Underwood smiles on stage in a silver dress.
John Lamparski/Getty Images

Carrie Underwood is getting ready to make her debut as a judge on American Idol next month (3/9), just a day before her 42nd birthday. It's been two years since she released her latest album, Denim and Rhinestones, and there's a good chance she's been working on new music for her next album project as she navigates becoming a weekly TV star on Idol.

In my many interviews with Carrie over the years, she often talked about the importance of her albums having a lot to offer to her huge fan base.

She told me not long ago, "I love making an album that I feel like is just full of single potential songs. I love covering as much ground as I possibly can in an album. I, as a fan of music, don’t wanna play an album from start to finish and hear the same song over and over again. I want to be able to go on a ride and explore."

She added, "I do hope that people will not just go and listen to the singles. I think that’s great if they’re into anything I’m doing, but it’s always a hope when I make an album that I make an album full of track after track that people love. So, I would definitely encourage people to kind of give the rest of the album a listen as well."

Over the weekend, Underwood shocked fans when she appeared on stage in Nashville on Feb. 15 to perform her duet "I'm Gonna Love You" with Cody Johnson during his second soldout show of the weekend at the Bridgestone Arena.

Her stepping on stage happened with no introduction as Cody began the song, and she appeared next to him on stage wearing a leopard skin skirt and black boots.

After she finished the song and waved to the screaming crowd, Cody simply said, "Yeah, that was cool."

Carrie thought it was cool, as well. She posted images from the moment on Instagram and wrote to her 13 million fans on the platform, "Fun with friends! ‘Twas a pleasure joining @codyjohnson on stage Saturday night at @bridgestonearenaofficial! He’s the real deal, folks! Such a great show, and what a LOUD crowd! #Nashville."

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.