Carrie Underwood's rise from 'American Idol' winner to country music royalty

Just last week, Carrie Underwood was on hand to congratulate Jamal Roberts after viewers crowned the elementary school P.E. teacher as the season 23 winner of American Idol. Underwood, 42, experienced a full-circle moment when she returned to American Idol as a judge, replacing Katy Perry. Although it may feel like just yesterday that the “Before He Cheats” songstress stood on that same stage, two decades have actually gone by since then. On this day 20 years ago, Carrie Underwood became just the fourth-ever winner in American Idol history.

Carrie Underwood Beat Out Bo Bice on ‘American Idol’

Growing up singing in her rural Oklahoma hometown, Underwood thought her dreams of a music career had ended with her high school graduation in 2001. “I had reached a point in my life where I had to be practical and prepare for my future in the ‘real world,’” she said previously.

Carrie Underwood Shares Throwback “American Idol” Photo: 'Can't Believe It Has Been Almost 20 Years'

However, a 21-year-old Carrie Underwood found herself driving to St. Louis three years later to audition for a show called American Idol. Finding herself among the top competitors each week, notoriously prickly judge Simon Cowell made a bold assessment after Underwood’s performance of Heart’s “Alone.”

“Simon told me that I was not just the girl to beat, but the person to beat,” she wrote in her journal at the time. “He then went on to make a prediction that I would not only win the AI competition, but I would sell more albums than any other American Idol has.”

 

As usual, Cowell wasn’t wrong. On May 24, 2005, host Ryan Seacrest announced Underwood as the show’s season 4 winner. Beating out runner-up Bo Bice, she garnered 37 million votes in the finale alone.

Coming Full Circle

American Idol: Where Carrie Underwood And Runner-Up Bo Bice Stand Since Season 4 - IMDb

Her American Idol victory truly marked the start of an illustrious career for Carrie Underwood. Debuting atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart with her first-ever single, “Inside Your Heaven,” she has since collected eight Grammy Awards, 16 chart-topping singles, and three Entertainer of the Year trophies from the Academy of Country Music.

Underwood told E! News of her unprecedented return 20 years later, “I had a lot of fun, for sure. I didn’t know how I would feel about it. And Luke [Bryan] and Lionel [Richie,] and the crew, [and] the people who work on the show are just so easy to be around.”