We’ve seen her career grow as this smart businesswoman has taken the music world by storm, so what has her calling out the industry?
In an interview with Women Want To Hear Women, Carrie Underwood took the gloves off and got real about the struggles female artists face when trying to start a music career. When the idea that “women don’t want to hear women” was brought up, Underwood didn’t hold back.
“That’s B.S.” She said in response to the idea. She then talks about her own childhood and how she wanted more women to look up to saying, “Even when I was growing up, I wished there were more women on the radio, and I had a lot more than there are today.”
That was a time when country stars like LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, and many others dominated radio. Now, Underwood is worried that there are less and less women for young girls to look up to – and that the game isn’t as fair as we’d like to think…
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She continues to talk about her fears for young girls wanting to become musicians and explains, “I think about all the little girls that are sitting at home saying, ‘I want to be a country music singer.’ What do you tell them, you know? What do you do? How do you look at them and say, ‘Well, just work hard, sweetie, and you can do it’ when that’s probably not the case right now?”
Underwood continues to talk about inequality she sees in the music industry and says, “I see so many girls out there busting their rear ends and so many guys out there where some new guy has a No. 1 and I’m like, ‘Well, good for you, that’s great, but who are you? What’s happening?’ And then these strong women who are super talented that totally deserve it are not getting the same opportunities.”
While she laughs at the issue of men getting number one spots out of nowhere in the video, you can tell she takes it very seriously. She admits she doesn’t know how to fix the problem but it is obvious she is working on it.
Underwood recruited the talented Madie & Tae duo as well as the extraordinary Runaway June for her Cry Pretty Tour. She holds strong that these ladies deserve the spot. She lets us know, “I’m not throwing anybody a bone by taking them out on tour with me. They deserve to be there and they’re gonna put on a great show, and I’m already proud of all that they’ve done.”
Underwood also calls for there to be a complete change in how artists in the industry think. She explains that “whatever rules we thought there were… uh-uh.” Underwood envisions a world where it is common to have three female acts on tour without having to talk about it like it is different or not normal.
She goes one step further in the full podcast, saying that women in country music should – and often do – support each other.
When asked about how the music industry pits women against each other to create competition, Underwood explains, “None of us feel that way towards each other. Any time I hear some lady — some strong, awesome, talented woman on the radio with a great song — I’m like, ‘Heck yeah!’ I don’t ever think like ‘Aw man!’ It never enters my mind.”
Underwood took the world by storm when she won American Idol in 2005. Since then, she has won seven Grammy Awards, ten Billboard Music Awards, fourteen Academy of Country Music Awards, twelve American Music Awards, eight Country Music Association Awards, seven Teen Choice Awards, three CMT Artists of the Year awards, and seventeen CMT Music Awards.
Not to mention she is raising a child and has recently told social media she is pregnant with another one – that she plans to take on tour!
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She is definitely one strong, talented lady and we are excited to see her star-studded female lineup perform during her Cry Pretty Tour!
Don’t forget to check out Underwood’s beautiful new video for “Love Wins” below and let us know your thoughts on her interview in the comment section!