Month: February 2008

NASHVILLE – (February 29, 2008) – Three-time Grammy winner and reigning ACM and CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Carrie Underwood launched her headline tour, the “Carnival Ride Tour,” on February 18 and enjoyed sell-outs on the first week of shows. Underwood and special guest Josh Turner performed for over 40,000 fans.

The “Carnival Ride Tour” will continue into 2008 coinciding with Underwood’s co-headline dates with Keith Urban on the “Love, Pain & the whole crazy Carnival Ride Tour,” which kicked off January 31.

Between the Pittsburgh concert on February 22 and the Providence concert on February 24, Underwood and her band headed to New York City to perform on “Saturday Night Live” for their first live show since the writer’s strike. The show pulled in their best ratings of the past two years.

Underwood’s current album CARNIVAL RIDE, which contains the smash hits “So Small” and “All-American Girl,” was certified double-platinum within 2 months of its release. Underwood’s debut album, SOME HEARTS, was recently certified 7x-Platinum, becoming the best-selling solo female country debut in RIAA history. With this certification, SOME HEARTS now also surpasses all other releases as the all-time U.S. top-selling album by any American Idol contestant.

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will announce the nominees for the 43rd annual Academy of Country Music Awards during a March 4 press conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. The awards show will take place May 18 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be telecast live on CBS. The announcement of the nominees comes one day before the beginning of Country Radio Seminar, an annual conference of radio executives from throughout the nation.

You can view the new trailer for “How Great Thou Art” featuring Carrie here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCxwyg0v7F4

Show’s Debut Airing Since Writer’s Strike

NASHVILLE – (February 18, 2008) – Fresh off a recent win at this year’s Grammy awards, Carrie Underwood has been asked to make her second appearance on “Saturday Night Live” on February 23, 2008. This will be the first show back in production since the writer’s strike began last fall. “Saturday Night Live” alum Tina Fey will host.

Underwood’s performance on “Saturday Night Live” coincides with the launch of her headline “Carnival Ride Tour,” which kicks off tonight in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Underwood will perform hits from her new double platinum-selling album, CARNIVAL RIDE.

Underwood’s debut album, SOME HEARTS, was recently certified 7x-Platinum, becoming the best-selling solo female country debut in RIAA history. With the certification, SOME HEARTS now also surpasses all other releases as the all-time U.S. top-selling album by any American Idol contestant.

COUNTRY MUSIC’S BIGGEST STARS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR AT THE
“2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS” PREMIERING MONDAY, APRIL 14

Performers Include Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood,
Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith.

Tickets Go On Sale Saturday, February 23

NASHVILLE – February 19, 2008 – CMT announces a star-studded line-up of performers for the 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS including chart-toppers Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith, with other performances soon to be announced. Country music’s biggest stars will rock Nashville’s Curb Event Center at Belmont University when the 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS premieres LIVE on Monday, April 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT* on CMT and CMT.com.

CMT’s seventh annual awards show honors country music’s elite for the year’s most outstanding music videos and performances and continues to be the genre’s only fan-voted awards. Tickets to the 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS at The Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville go on sale Saturday, February 23 at 10 a.m., CT and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 615-255-9600, online at CMT.com and ticketmaster.com. Belmont University students will be eligible for a ticket discount, and additional information can be found online at CMT.com.

Fan voting for the 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS is currently underway and continues through February 25, only at CMT.com, where fans will select the top nominees in each of the categories. On Thursday, March 6, CMT will announce the four finalists in each of the thirteen 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS categories, except VIDEO OF THE YEAR. Fans can then vote online at CMT.com through Friday, April 11 to determine the winners. The final nominees for VIDEO OF THE YEAR will be announced at the beginning of the live show, and fans can vote at CMT.com throughout the live broadcast (ET/CT only) to determine the night’s big winner.

Now through February 29, opry.com is hosting the Money Can’t Buy It Sweepstakes featuring a guitar signed by some of the artists who appeared on the How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites Live From The Grand Ole Opry CD. The acoustic guitar is autographed by Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley, Loretta Lynn, Sara Evans, Ronnie Milsap, Charlie Daniels, and Vince Gill. You can enter to win daily, so be sure to visit https://www.opry.com/

CMT announced first round finalists for the “2008 CMT Music Awards,” country music’s only fan-voted awards show. The first round of voting goes through February 25th. Your votes will determine the final nominees for CMT’s seventh annual awards show.

Vote for Carrie in the following categories by clicking https://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards/

VIDEO OF THE YEAR – “Wasted” (Director: Roman White)

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR – Carrie Underwood – “So Small”

FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR – Carrie Underwood – “Wasted”

Other categories to vote in: SUPPORTING CHARACTER OF THE YEAR – Christian Kane for Carrie Underwood’s “So Small”

VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR – Roman White (award eligible videos include: Carrie Underwood’s “So Small” and Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You”)

Country music’s biggest stars will rock Nashville’s Curb Event Center at Belmont University when the 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS premieres LIVE on Monday, April 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT* on CMT and CMT.com.

Congratulations to Carrie Underwood for winning the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance: “Before He Cheats”

And Congratulations to songwriters Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins for winning the Grammy for Best Country Song: “Before He Cheats”

From songs of heartache to songs of hope, country and gospel music have shared a historic kinship on country’s most famous stage, the Grand Ole Opry. That legacy is celebrated in a new 90-minute GAC television special “How Great Thou Art,” based on a CD of the same title, featuring classic gospel performances by many of country music’s biggest stars. Stirring moments in the show include CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Carrie Underwood singing “How Great Thou Art” and Sara Evans performing “Just A Closer Walk With Thee.”

Joining them at the Grand Ole Opry House is an all-star cast of Opry members – Vince Gill, Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels, Ronnie Milsap, and the legendary Loretta Lynn. The special also features performances from the mother church of country music, the Ryman Auditorium, by ACM & CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Brad Paisley, plus Ricky Skaggs and The Whites.

The special will premiere on GAC on February 9 at 8 p.m. ET. For a complete listing of air dates go to https://www.gactv.com/gac/on_tv/

Some Hearts Is Now the All-Time American Idol U.S. Sales Champ

Nashville, TN – Multi-award-winning chart-topper Carrie Underwood has broken a string of records with the blockbuster success of her 19 Recordings/Arista Records/Arista Nashville debut, Some Hearts, and now Carrie’s ACM Album of the Year has been certified 7x-Platinum, becoming the best-selling solo female country debut in RIAA history. With the certification, Some Hearts now also surpasses all other releases as the all-time U.S. top-selling album by any American Idol contestant.

Some Hearts launched four #1 country singles, including “Wasted,” “Don’t Forget to Remember Me,” “Before He Cheats,” and “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” the latter of which earned Underwood the Best Female Country Vocal Performance GRAMMY last year. The reigning ACM and CMA Female Vocalist and Best New Artist GRAMMY winner, Carrie not only performs on this weekend’s GRAMMY telecast, but is also nominated for two awards, including Best Female Country Vocal Performance (“Before He Cheats”) and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (“Oh Love” with Brad Paisley). “Before He Cheats” is also up for Best Country Song, as well as Song of the Year (for writers Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins).

At the close of 2007, Billboard ranked Some Hearts as the Top Country Album for the second consecutive year, making Underwood the first female artist in Billboard history to earn back-to-back honors for Top Country Album. Released November 15, 2005, Some Hearts amassed a cumulative 27 weeks at #1 – holding the peak spot on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart across multiple weeks in 2005, 2006, and 2007.