Before He Cheated, Carrie Underwood was a small-town girl with big dreams. On the 10th anniversary of her American Idol win on Monday, May 25, the country superstar posted an Instagram update remembering that life-changing moment.
“So hard to believe it’s been 10 years!” the season four winner, 32, gushed to her 2 million-plus followers. “I’m forever grateful to American Idol for changing my life!”
Underwood posted a photo of herself from her decade-old winning moment, complete with an entirely different hairstyle and animal-print dress. “#blessed,” she noted on Monday.
Following her victory on Idol, Underwood debuted her album, Some Hearts, in 2005. With the help of smash singles like “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats,” the singer achieved monumental and immediate success. She was also well received by her peers, taking home three Grammys that following year.
Throughout her career, she’s won (so far) seven Grammy awards and has the most No. 1 hits, amongst any of her fellow country superstars, on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. Underwood continued to crank out incredibly successful tunes, including her singles “Something in the Water,” “Cowboy Casanova,” and her recent duet, “Somethin’ Bad,” with fellow Southern blonde bombshell Miranda Lambert.
In so many ways, Underwood’s personal life has transformed as well. With her star power, she met and fell in love with NHL player Mike Fisher, whom she married in 2010. The couple welcomed their first child — an adorable baby boy named Isaiah — this past March.
Fisher most recently shared a photo of their baby several weeks ago, which Underwood re-posted via Instagram. “They have my heart…” she wrote beside the shot of father of son.
Underwood is just the latest Idol alum and winner to credit the show for launching her career, ahead of its 15th and final season. On Monday, May 11, it was confirmed that the series would be ending after the upcoming season featuring Ryan Seacrest as host. Meanwhile, another mega-successful Idol alum, the original winner Kelly Clarkson, joked about her days on the Fox reality series.
“I have a little joke with our nanny, because she told me she loves [2003’s From Justin to Kelly],” Clarkson, 33, told Rolling Stone recently of her movie with runner-up Justin Guarini. “She was like, ‘My roommate and I used to watch it all the time! I’m totally going to show your daughter From Justin to Kelly.‘ I’m like, ‘I will fire you.'”
