Carrie Underwood was only three years into one of the biggest careers country music has ever seen when she was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on May 10, 2008.
Underwood shot to overnight fame when she won Season 4 of American Idol on May 25, 2005, and she made her debut on the hallowed stage of the Opry just weeks later on June 10. She became a regular performer on the Opry thereafter, and on March 15, 2008, Randy Travis surprised her during on Opry show with an onstage invitation to become the country music institution’s newest member.
Fellow Oklahoman Garth Brooks was on hand to induct Underwood into the Grand Ole Opry on May 10, 2008, and he flashed back to his own induction as he introduced her as the newest Opry member.
“I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now,” Brooks said. “I cried like a baby the whole time.”
Brooks predicted a huge future for Underwood, who was already on a trajectory to become a superstar. “You will be rained with awards from the CMA, ACM, Grammys and all that stuff,” he told her. “Nothing will last as long or be more important than this award right here tonight. Congratulations.”
Underwood kissed her trophy after Brooks handed it to her. She performed “Last Name,” “All-American Girl” and “Jesus, Take the Wheel” at her Opry induction, tearfully addressing her peers and saying, “This is gonna hold a very special place in my awards case. I just want to thank everybody at the Opry for having me as a part of your family — because it really seems like a great family to be a part of.”
“It means a lot to me. I promise that I’ll do everything I possibly can to make you not regret it — and to make you guys not regret it!” she added, addressing the audience.
Though Underwood has gone on to become a superstar capable of selling out solo shows at the biggest arenas, she still appears regularly on the Opry in Nashville.
“The induction award they gave me says, ‘Hey, you’re a part of the family,'” Underwood observes. “It means a lot to me because it’s the heart of country music, the church, the sacred place, the super-elite club that says you love this music.”
See Inside Carrie Underwood’s Nashville Mansion
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: Look Inside Carrie Underwood + Mike Fisher’s Spectacular Ottawa Mansion
Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher built a spectacular rural estate in Ottawa when they first married, and pictures show a property that is luxurious, but also rustic.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
PICTURES: See Inside Carrie Underwood’s Beautiful Post-‘American Idol’ Home
Carrie Underwood invested her money wisely after winning American Idol in 2005. One of her first big purchases was a 3,099-square-foot home in the well-to-do Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tenn. Underwood paid $384,000 for a luxurious 3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom stone and stucco home in a private gated community.
The house features a library, a vaulted ceiling and lovely amenities throughout, but while it’s very nice, it’s certainly not the kind of home you’d picture for a budding country superstar. Underwood wound up being a huge success right out of the gate with her debut album, Some Hearts, and she sold the home in Franklin for $372,500 in 2007, when she purchased the Brentwood mansion that she would later share with her husband, Mike Fisher.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker