Carrie Underwood is looking back on her American Idol journey. Underwood was crowned the Season 4 winner in 2005, and is now returning, 20 years later, this time to serve as a judge alongside Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.
“I was always a singer. It was in me,” Underwood shares as part of the new From Idol to Icon series. “I call myself a bird. I’m a bird, I’m always singing. I would sing anywhere, any chance I could. Shows, bars. During the summer, I was at home with my parents, and on the news they were just talking about, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s American Idol. Auditions are happening.’ I think they were in maybe Ohio.”
Underwood saw on the American Idol website that auditions were in St. Louis. Although ready to dismiss the idea, Underwood’s mother, Carole, offered to drive her if she wanted to try out. Underwood sang Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” even though her heart was in country music, because of Simon Cowell.
“I knew going into my Idol auditions that Simon was not a fan of country music. Even one of the executive producers at the time was like, ‘You know Simon hates country music, right?’ … But that’s who I am. It did affect my song choice in my audition, because I thought maybe if I sang ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me,’ I could still be me with a song I knew and loved.”
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Cowell not only moved Underwood on to the next round of American Idol, but he encouraged her to be herself, even if it was part of a genre he didn’t personally enjoy.
“I feel like he deserves a lot of credit for that,” Underwood shares. “Instead of being like, ‘I don’t like country music. This isn’t what I want to listen to,’ he saw a country artist, and the value country music has.”
Underwood has a lot of pride in her younger self, for being bold enough to step out of her comfort zone and audition for the reality TV talent show.
“I have no idea how that 21-year-old Carrie was able to muster up enough guts to be able to walk into a room and audition in front of Simon, Paula [Abdul] and Randy [Jackson], and the world,” she reflects. “Everybody watching on the other side of the camera. When you think about that, it’s just absolutely mind-boggling. But I guess the good Lord gave me strength. That’s destiny, and we all have one, and it’s written. You just have to follow it.”
Underwood went from her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma to American Idol, which led her to become one of country music’s biggest superstars. The irony isn’t lost on her that she now lives, with her husband and two boys, on a farm, this time in Tennessee.
“It is really incredible to think, a few decisions that we make in life can completely alter our trajectory,” says the singer. “I make the joke now that I grew up on a farm, in a really small town. Go try out for American Idol, go all over the world. Go on tours, make albums, do all this stuff, just so I could buy a farm, and go back to the farm and live on a farm in a small little town That’s roots. We all have them. You can’t get away from them, and sometimes you have to go out and see all the other stuff before you realize, ‘Man, I had it pretty good, and I kind of want that back.'”
“I love my life so much now, and I feel like I get the best of both worlds,” she continues. “I get my days on the farm at home. I get my chickens and my sheep. There’s still a lot to do. It’s a lot of work. It’s very fulfilling, and that’s where I came from. I came in the world that way, and I’m gonna go out that way. I got to go do some really cool things in and around it and in-between.”
Underwood closes by sharing what she would tell her herself from two decades ago, a message that brings her to tears.
“I don’t even know if I could tell her what she’s about to experience,” she says. “Seeing myself 21 years old, the world ahead of you. Obviously, it’s overwhelming, but you’re gonna do fine, kid. You’re gonna be okay. Just hold on.”
American Idol airs on Sunday nights at 8:00 PM CT on ABC.