20 years ago today, on Jan. 21, 2006, American Idol winner and rookie singer Carrie Underwood shot to the top with her first official single.
After she won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005, Underwood released the first single from her upcoming debut album, Some Hearts, on Oct. 18, 2005, and it was called “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” The album came out on Nov. 15.
While the album was a success as well, Underwood’s single was a major hit, earning her an exciting career accomplishment early on. After a few months of airplay, “Jesus, Take the Wheel” became Underwood’s first song to top the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
The track would hold this position for six weeks, an impressive feat for a debut song. It’s an emotional song, with lyrics like, “I’m letting go/ So give me one more chance/ And save me from this road I’m on/ Jesus, take the wheel,” and it was written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey, and Gordie Sampson.
“Jesus, Take the Wheel” won a slew of awards, including Single of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song at the Grammy Awards, among others.
Underwood’s next No. 1 song on the Hot Country Songs chart came only months later, when another single from her debut album, “Before He Cheats,” topped the chart on Nov. 11 and stayed there for five weeks.
The only song to beat this record throughout her career was “Something in the Water” in 2014, which was No. 1 for seven weeks.
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While she has had many more No. 1 songs on the Hot Country Songs chart in the years since, as of writing, Underwood has only had one song top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it was before her career really started.
In June 2005, during her season of American Idol, Underwood released a version of the song “Inside Your Heaven,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She went on to include the track on her album, Some Hearts.
Since then, Underwood has cracked the top 10 with a few tracks, but she hasn’t hit the No. 1 spot again—yet.