Carrie Underwood almost passed on biggest hit over image concerns

One of Carrie Underwood’s most iconic songs almost sounded a lot different.

During a recent interview with People, the 42-year-old singer revealed she almost passed on her hit song “Before He Cheats,” admitting she initially questioned if it was “too aggressive.”

“Because I was like a sweet farm girl on [‘American Idol’] — and I hope that’s who I still am — but it was almost, ‘Maybe we don’t do this song,’” she told the outlet. “But everybody loved it so much, we went for it and it … worked. But, yeah, 20 years later, we still see people perform it, and it’s a lot of fun.”

The hit song was featured on her debut album, “Some Hearts” in 2005, and was later re-released as a single in 2006.

While it’s been over 20 years since the song was released, Underwood shared that younger generations of country music fans continue to find the song, including her son.

“I recently was vacuuming my house, and when I turned the vacuum off [there was] a noise coming from my bedroom, and I was like, ‘It’s music.’ And I was like, ‘That’s ‘Before He Cheats.’ And I walk in there and my 6-year-old is lying on my bed watching my music video. And I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ And he’s like, ‘Nothing,’” she said.

She went on to say that after finding the iconic song, “he started going down the rabbit hole” of some of her other older music videos.

Underwood shares two sons with her husband, Mike Fisher: Isaiah, 10, and Jacob, 7. It seems she passed down her talent for singing to her sons, as she and Isaiah teamed up to sing “Little Drummer Boy” on her 2020 Christmas album, “My Gift.”

“It was so great. When we recorded, I was able to be in the booth with him and encourage him and try to remind him what words were coming up next, things like that,” she told People in December 2020. “I got to listen to his vocals [get] put together and then listening to myself with him. I was laughing, and I was crying, and it was just very overwhelming in a good way. It’s just very emotional.”

The singer shot to stardom after winning the fourth season of “American Idol” in 2005. She went on to release eight albums, including “Play On,” “Storyteller” and “Denim & Rhinestones.” Over the course of her career, she also won eight Grammy Awards and holds the record for the most-awarded artist at the CMT Music Awards.

Years after finding success on the competition singing show, Underwood returned as a judge for the 22nd season of the show, replacing Katy Perry.

“I do have a big problem … I can’t lie,” Underwood told “Good Morning America” in August 2024. “I feel like I’ll be very honest but hopefully constructive and encouraging.”

She later added that even after all these years, the show “feels like home,” and that she will “be able to hopefully offer some insight, and help” to the contestants, as she knows how they feel.