Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood won a golden ticket to fame and fortune on American Idol, but the tremendous success of her solo career has practically rendered her time with Simon, Paula, and Randy a career footnote. In 2005, her Some Hearts became the fastest-selling debut by a female country artist in the history of SoundScan—which only goes back 17 years, but still. 2007’s Carnival Ride sold slower and fewer, but a triple-platinum album in the illegal-download era is nothing to sneeze at. Ex-Idol judge Kara DioGuardi’s songwriting credits on 2009’s Play On and Underwood’s mentoring appearance on the last iteration of the game show prove that the singer hasn’t fully escaped the show’s sparkly, azure shadow, but they’re also a sign of her shuffle toward pop crossover.

Updated 08/24/2011