Carrie Underwood is close to becoming a judge on American Idol next season. She would replace Katy Perry who stepped away from her chair at the end of last season.

• Carrie Underwood won Season 4 of American Idol in 2005.
• Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie have been judges since Season 16 (seven seasons).
• Underwood has sold over 85 million records and is widely considered to be the first or second most successful artist to have started a career on the show.

Deadline all but confirmed the news on Wednesday afternoon (July 31). At about the same time, TMZ had reported that the two sides were close to an agreement. Underwood has not commented yet.

This would give the judging panel two country music judges should Bryan confirm. His involvement has always gone year to year and thus far neither he nor Richie have been confirmed.

Other names thought to have been considered are rumored to be Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. Underwood’s addition would add to country music’s reality television dominance.

Dan + Shay and Reba McEntire just finished as coaches on The Voice on NBC, with McEntire set to return in the fall. Kelsea Ballerini is going to join the show in the spring.

American Idol’s premier for Season 23 has not yet been revealed but fans can typically expect a January or February launch. The news comes as Underwood announced an extension of her Las Vegas residency and a new song with rockers Papa Roach.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he’s written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.