Carrie Underwood Releases 'Some Hearts'

So, the powers that be decided that Underwood would be a contemporary country singer in the vein of Faith Hill — she'd sing anthemic country pop, ideal for either country or adult contemporary radio, with none of the delightful tackiness of Shania Twain — and her debut album, Some Hearts, not only hits this mark exactly, it's better than either album Hill has released since Breathe in 1999. Which isn't to say that Carrie Underwood is as compelling or as distinctive as a personality or vocalist as Faith Hill: Underwood is still developing her own style and, for as good a singer as she is, she doesn't have much of a persona beyond that of the girl next door made good.

Some Hearts is the debut album from fourth-season American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, released in the United States on November 15, 2005. It has been certified seven times platinum in the U.S. (RIAA) and three times platinum in Canada (CRIA). On December 4, 2006, Some Hearts was named the number-one selling album of the year in all genres at the Billboard Music Awards. It is also the best selling debut album by a solo female country music artist in history and the best selling album by an American Idol alumnus in the United States. The album contains the #1 singles "Inside Your Heaven", "Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Don't Forget to Remember Me", "Wasted", and "Before He Cheats", her biggest hit to date.

To promote Some Hearts, Carrie embarked on her very first solo tour, which was called Carrie Underwood: Live 2006. The tour started April 4, 2006 and ended November 30 of the same year.

With 6,979,000 copies sold in the United States, Some Hearts is listed as one of the 100 Best Selling Albums of All Time by the RIAA. In December 2009, Billboard announced that the album was the biggest-selling country album of the decade, as well as the fourteenth biggest-selling album of any genre.