Carrie Underwood Recalls Working to Keep ‘Sweet Farm Girl’ Image on 20th Anniversary of Smash Hit ‘Before He Cheats’ (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Carrie Underwood reflected to PEOPLE on the 20th anniversary of her infectious hit, “Before He Cheats”

• She explained, “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'”

• Ultimately, the song was released and became a defining cornerstone of the Idol winner-turned-judge’s music career.

“Before He Cheats” has become a cornerstone of Carrie Underwood’s career, but she wasn’t always so sure that the messaging was going to land properly with fans.

“I remember even when we were talking about recording that song, it was kind of like, ‘Oh, is this too aggressive? Is this too…’ ” Underwood, 42, told PEOPLE of initial hesitations surrounding the hit track while chatting at the Nashville American Idol Season 9 press line in November 2025.

She added, “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.'”

However, an infectious jam like “Before He Cheats” is hard to keep down, and history has proven its prominence. “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,” Underwood shared.

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Originally shared as a part of her debut album, Some Hearts, which was released in November 2005, “Before He Cheats” was subsequently re-released as a single in 2006, which catapulted it and Underwood to the international stardom that persists to this day.

Though it has now been over 20 years since the song came out, Underwood recognizes the staying power “Before He Cheats” has regularly, and even sees it exemplified within her own home and family life.

“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,’ ” Underwood jokingly recalled. “Watching him discover that … he started going down the rabbit hole of my old music videos.”

Christopher Willard/Disney via Getty

Carrie Underwood on ‘American Idol’

Speaking to the enduring successes of her legacy, which have catapulted her from Season 4 victory on Idol to returning as a judge later in her career, Underwood added that “it is absolutely impossible to wrap my head around” the successes she has encountered over the years.

“I feel very blessed that I’ve had so much support over the years from just so many fans. And I feel very undeserving, but it’s still really incredible, and even just thinking about it makes me emotional,” she continued.

Underwood noted that “it’s been fun to reflect” on her past discography, and she’s been tapping into it during performances, as well. “We’ve kind of started pulling out some of those songs just to play in show form for some recent shows, and I feel like the fans are liking that. And I’m liking that too.”

Though she’s still the same Underwood fans fell in love with two decades ago, the singer added, “I feel like my voice has grown, my musicality, my songwriting, my performance abilities. I just — I feel better. I’m at that point in my life and in my career where, in all of those things, I feel like my skillset keeps growing, which is fun.”

American Idol premieres Monday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m. ET.

Read the original article on People