Is Carrie Underwood the best female country music singer?

Why is everyone talking about Carrie Underwood? It’s the same reason why her tickets fly off the shelves almost as fast as they go on sale.

Ever since her 2005 premiere as a Country-music performer, she’s been racing up the charts and earning her place in the hearts of her fans. Fans have been falling in love with songs such as “Cowboy Casanova”, “Wine After Whiskey”, and the world famous “Blown Away” establishes Carrie Underwood’s beautiful voice, musical storytelling, and her incredibly rich career.

In less than two decades, Carrie Underwood has established herself as a major music icon whose influence goes far beyond Country music to touch all music from all over the world. It’s gotten to the point that even hearing her last name can bring a smile to the face and images of fan-favorite singles. She’s even responsible for bringing back the revenge song back to country music.

In fact, many of today’s rising country stars owe their styles and identity to the work that Underwood has done. But even the most dedicated copycats have failed to reach her range and tone.

Carrie Underwood Upcoming Concerts

The Magic Of Carrie Underwood

But what is it about Underwood that makes her such a hit phenom in the music world? It doesn’t take long to find dozens of critics, fans, and outlets to find out that Underwood’s voice is a major part of it.

Rolling Stone magazine praised her vocal range by saying that “she can hit any note”. Others look to her vocal range as enormous, which allows her to hold notes for extended lengths of time that has been described as “freakish” by Billboard. Some of her critics even have to admit that only a vocal talent like hers can cut loose with long notes that sail through octaves that many listeners don’t even know exist.

It’s almost as if Underwood’s rigorous fitness routine and youth allows her to do what many other musicians can only dream of. And many other country music stars have taken notice.

In fact, fellow country singer Randy Travis was asked about Underwood’s cover of his song “I Told You So” and was quoted in saying that her voice was much better suited for the song. Especially since his baritone voice didn’t quite make the song hit as well as it did with Underwood’s soprano voice and incredible range.

Her versatile range has also let her perform in a variety of genres that many other country singers could never manage. For instance, she’s sung live gospel songs such as “How Great Thou Art”, Rock songs like a cover of Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City” which was met with such praise, that some believe Underwood could excel as a band mate.

Underwood and Her Influences

When asked for her major influences, Underwood was said to consider “music as a whole” her major influence. She grew up listening to music from a variety of different genres, backgrounds, and locales and they have all made their mark on her. But she specifically mentions rock acts like Queen, Guns N’ Roses, George Michael, the Rolling Stones, and My Chemical Romance. She also mentioned being a huge Freddie Mercury fan in a 2014 interview. It’s clear that Underwood was always impressed by musicians with incredibly versatile voices.

As for Country artists, she listed George Strait, Dolly Parton, Randy Travis, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, and Garth Brooks as some of her major influences. Though she never claimed so publicly, many critics link Underwood’s style to Shania Twain and Faith Hill as well.

As for her unique sound and identity, Carrie Underwood concert shows elements of country pop with rock influences as well as music that shows some Christian music influences.