Carrie Underwood photo courtesy of SonyBMG Nashville.
December 26, 2007 — To borrow a phrase from Josh Turner, 2007 was a firecracker for country music. New acts such as Taylor Swift and Bucky Covington had explosive starts, established acts such as George Strait and Rascal Flatts continued to light up sales charts and awards shows, and Carrie Underwood gave fans plenty of bang for their bucks.
Here's a quick look at 10 developments in country music during 2007:
The Year Of Carrie Underwood
Two years removed from her "American Idol" triumph, she topped the pop and country charts with her second album, Carnival Ride, while her debut, Some Hearts, reached 6 million in sales. She won three trophies at the Academy of Country Music Awards, came up a double-winner at the American Music Awards and the Country Music Association show, and reached platinum sales with "Before He Cheats." She even hit the gossip columns thanks to romances with quarterback Tony Romo and actor Chace Crawford. Despite the title of her latest No. 1 song, there's nothing small about her accomplishments.
Garth Brooks photo by Mark Tucker, courtesy of Pearl Records.
Garth Brooks Resurfaces
He's retired from the road, but Garth returns much more frequently than Halley's comet. This year, he set a record by debuting at No. 1 on the singles chart with "More Than A Memory," then made news by passing Elvis Presley as the best-selling solo artist ever in the U.S. The thunder rolled for a whopping nine shows in Kansas City, and now he's gearing up for a series of charity concerts in Los Angeles. This from a guy who's supposedly on the sidelines...
Taylor Swift photo by Kristin Barlowe, courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Teen Angels
Taylor Swift drew lots of laughs with her quip at the podium during the CMAs: "This is definitely the highlight of my senior year!" She became the first artist to write and record a No. 1 single before her 18th birthday, and she even sung on national TV to the subject of her first hit, "Tim McGraw." Now she's a Grammy nominee for Best New Artist. Taylor wasn't the only teen female to make an impact. "Hannah Montana" star Miley Cyrus, 15, added her voice to her dad's "Get Ready, Get Set, Don't Go" and brought Billy Ray Cyrus back to country's Top 15 for the first time in nine years.
Blake Shelton photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.
Reality Check
Billy Ray's regeneration was helped by his appearance on "Dancing With The Stars," but he wasn't the only performer aided by TV's reality-show contests. Marie Osmond followed him onto the most recent installment of "Dancing," Chuck Wicks started his career through the cancelled FOX show "Nashville," and the music-competition theme became the basis for a special, "6 Degrees Of Martina McBride." Blake Shelton became the reality-show king: celebrity judge on "Nashville Star," one-time guest on "American Idol" and vocal-group mentor on the recent "Clash Of The Choirs."
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