Carrie on
Oklahoma’s Carrie Underwood to appear on “Idol,” at Opry.
Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood is returning to two of the big stages where she got her start as a country music superstar.
The fourth-season winner of Fox’s “American Idol,” Underwood will return to the reality TV singing contest, which ABC has rebooted this season, as a superstar guest mentor. The show will air live at 7 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
The seven-time Grammy Award winner, who hails from Checotah, released the worldwide exclusive look at her glamorous new music video for the lead single and title track from her forthcoming album, “Cry Pretty,” on May 6 on “American Idol.”
This season’s top five “Idol” contestants — Gabby Barrett, Cade Foehner, Caleb Lee Hutchinson, Maddie Poppe and Michael J. Woodard — will perform songs from Underwood’s songbook on Sunday’s live show, after a special mentoring session with her during a surprise trip to Nashville, Tennessee. Underwood also will perform her hit single, “Cry Pretty,” which she cowrote and coproduced.
The song debuted in its first week sales at No. 1 in the U.S. all-genres, topping the iTunes Top Songs charts in 12 countries, according to a news release.
The multiplatinum global superstar announced last month that she will release “Cry Pretty,” her first studio album on Capitol Records Nashville on Sept. 14. The upcoming release marks the first time the native Oklahoman has coproduced her own album. “Cry Pretty” is her sixth studio album overall and the follow-up to the 2015 platinum-selling collection “Storyteller.”
Underwood last year signed a new worldwide recording agreement with Universal Music Group, making her new label home Capitol Records Nashville. She previously called Arista Nashville, part of Sony Music Nashville, her label home since just after winning “American Idol” in spring 2005.
In addition, Underwood will celebrate her 10th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on Friday, when she will perform at 7 and 9:30 p.m. on country music’s most hallowed stage. Ashley Campbell, Dom Flemons, Bill Anderson and Riders in the Sky also are on the bill for Friday’s shows.
Next month, the superstar singer-songwriter has the opportunity to add to her impressive trophy case at the CMT Music Awards, premiering June 6 from Nashville on the cable network. Underwood, who holds the title of most career wins at the CMT Music Awards with 17, tied Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean for the most nominations this year with four each.
Underwood earned a nod for the top award, Video of the Year, for the inspiring clip for her anthem “The Champion,” featuring Ludacris. Her “The Champion” clip with the rapper also is nominated for Female Video of the Year and Collaborative Video of the Year. Underwood shares a nomination for CMT Performance of the Year with Keith Urban for their 2017 CMT Music Awards duet on “The Fighter.”
Other CMT Music Awards nominees with Oklahoma ties include Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Rascal Flatts. To see the full list of nominees or to vote, go to www.cmt.com.