Carrie Underwood recording third album, honoring teachers
Carrie Underwood (Associated Press photo)
A version of this story appears in Wednesday’s The Oklahoman.
Carrie Underwood plans release of third studio album this fall
Oklahoma country star Carrie Underwood is keeping busy this summer, working on her third album, due out in the fall, and honoring her favorite teachers, who also happen to be family, in a public service campaign.
Checotah’s favorite daughter will release her third album, which is not yet named, Nov. 3 on 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville, her publicist announced Tuesday. The first single is expected to hit radio in late summer.
The 2005 “American Idol” winner currently is recording the album, which reunites her with producer Mark Bright. Their past collaborations have been phenomenally successful: Bright produced Underwood’s 2007 sophomore album “Carnival Ride” and seven tracks on her 2005 debut record “Some Hearts.”
With those two records, Underwood, 26, already has sold 10 million albums.
Earlier this year, she became the first country artist to notch 10 No. 1 singles from her first two albums when her cover of the Randy Travis hit “I Told You So” became the fifth consecutive chart-topping track from “Carnival Ride.” Her sophomore effort also yielded the No. 1 “Just a Dream” and three other chart-toppers she co-wrote: “All-American Girl,” “So Small” and “Last Name.”
Underwood’s streak of No. 1′s began with her first post-”American Idol” single, “Inside Your Heaven,” which debuted atop Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the summer of 2005. It was the first of five singles to top the BDS or Mediabase charts from her seven-times-platinum album “Some Hearts.” Others include her Grammy-winning performances “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Before He Cheats,” along with “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” and “Wasted.”
The Oklahoma native is the only “Idol” winner to earn 10 No. 1 hits, and Forbes.com recently named her the top-earning contestant on the reality TV show, with her estimated $14 million in earnings last year. Forbes also ranked Underwood No. 75 on its 2009 Celebrity 100 list.
In April, she became just the seventh female country artist to win the Academy of Country Music’s top award, entertainer of the year.
Underwood is lending her celebrity to a public awareness campaign for the nonprofit organization Teachers Count. She is the first country artist to appear in the group’s “Behind Every Famous Person Is a Fabulous Teacher” campaign. The
The campaign pairs celebrities with their favorite teachers, but understandably, Underwood couldn’t pick just one. She is featured with her sisters, Stephanie Shelton and Shanna Means, who are current teachers, and their mother, Carole Underwood, who taught for 25 years.
“Teaching was something that ran in my family,” the singer says in the campaign. “I have always admired my mother and sisters for making a difference in the lives of so many.”
Other celebrities who have participated in the campaign include former First Lady Laura Bush, actors Taye Diggs, Edie Falco and James Franco, rappers Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Ne-Yo and former NFL quarterback Steve Young.
-BAM
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