Carnival Ride

Katrina Ruth Elam is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal South Records in 2004, she released her self-titled debut album that year, charting in the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks with the No. 29 "No End in Sight" and the No. 59 "I Want a Cowboy". A third single, "Love Is", peaked at No. 47 from an unreleased second album Turn Me Up. Elam left the label in 2008.

"I Told You So" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Randy Travis from his 1987 album, Always & Forever. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard and Canadian RPM country singles charts in June 1988. Travis had first recorded it on his 1983 album Live at the Nashville Palace under his stage name "Randy Ray". It became a local hit and one of his most requested songs at the club. In 2007, the song was covered by Carrie Underwood on her album Carnival Ride. Her version was released in February 2009 and was re-recorded and re-released in March as a duet with Travis. Underwood's and Travis's duet peaked at number two on the U.S. country charts in 2009.

Randy Bruce Traywick, known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor.

Always & Forever is the second studio album by American country music singer Randy Travis. It was released on May 4, 1987, by Warner Bros. Records. Released from this album were the singles "Too Gone Too Long", "I Won't Need You Anymore ", "Forever and Ever, Amen" and "I Told You So", all of which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.

Keith Lionel Urban is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves International Award, thirteen CMA Awards and six ARIA Music Awards. Urban wrote and performed the song "For You" from the film Act of Valor, which earned him nominations at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and at the 18th Critics' Choice Awards in the respective Best Original Song categories.

The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country music in the western 13 states with the support of artists based on the West Coast. Artists such as Johnny Bond, Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller and others influenced them. A board of directors was formed to govern the academy in 1965.

The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony features performances and award presentations by popular country music artists, with occasional appearances from pop and rock artists. The CMA Awards were first presented in 1967, and televised for the first time the following year.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show was an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was produced by Telepictures and aired in syndication. The majority of stations owned by NBC Owned Television Stations, along with Hearst Television and Tegna, served as the program's largest affiliate base. For its first five seasons, the show was taped in Studio 11 at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. From season 6 onwards, the show moved to being taped at Stage 1 on the nearby Warner Bros. lot. Since the beginning of the sixth season, The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been broadcast in high definition.

Saturday Night Live is an American late-night live television sketch comedy, political satire, and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves as the program's showrunner. The show premiere was hosted by George Carlin on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.

The Early Show is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., although a number of affiliates either pre-empted or tape-delayed the Saturday edition. The program originally broadcast from the General Motors Building in New York City.

American Idol is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to April 7, 2016, for 15 seasons. It was on hiatus for two years until March 11, 2018, when a revival of the series began airing on ABC.

Good Morning America is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. The Sunday edition was canceled in 1999; weekend editions returned on both Saturdays and Sundays on September 4, 2004. The weekday and Saturday programs airs from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in all United States timezones. The Sunday editions are an hour long and are transmitted to ABC's stations live at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, although stations in some media markets air them at different times. Viewers in the Pacific Time Zone receive an updated feed with a specialized opening and updated live reports. A third hour of the weekday broadcast aired from 2007 to 2008, exclusively on ABC News Now.

Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (NYRE) is an annual New Year's Eve television special broadcast by ABC. The special broadcasts primarily from New York City's Times Square and prominently features coverage of its annual ball drop event, along with live and pre-recorded musical performances by popular musicians from Times Square and Hollywood. Since 2016–17, the special has regularly included performances and coverage of midnight festivities from other locations, including New Orleans and San Juan.

The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment, it is the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and gospel music as well as comedic performances and skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and internet listeners.

Target Corporation is an American retail corporation headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the eighth largest retailer in the United States, and a component of the S&P 500 Index. The company is one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States.

The DVD is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind of digital data and has been widely used for video programs or formerly for storing software and other computer files as well. DVDs offer significantly higher storage capacity than compact discs (CD) while having the same dimensions. A standard DVD can store up to 4.7 GB of storage, while variants can store up to a maximum of 17.08 GB.

"So Small" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in August 2007 as the first single from her 2007 album Carnival Ride. Underwood co-wrote this song with Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird.

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.

"All-American Girl" is a song composed by American country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace. It is the second single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in the United States on December 17, 2007..

"Last Name" is a song recorded by American country music singer Carrie Underwood and written by Underwood, Hillary Lindsey, and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted. At the 51st Grammy Awards, the song won Underwood her third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. It has sold 1,300,000 copies to date.

"Just a Dream" is a country song, released as the fourth single from Carrie Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. The song was written by Gordie Sampson, Steve McEwan, and Hillary Lindsey. The song was officially released to radio on July 21, 2008. A video for the song was released on August 5, 2008. The song was nominated for 2010 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Her success garnered her several titles including the "Queen of Country Pop". Billboard named her as the leader of the '90s country-pop crossover stars.

"I Told You So" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Randy Travis from his 1987 album, Always & Forever. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard and Canadian RPM country singles charts in June 1988. Travis had first recorded it on his 1983 album Live at the Nashville Palace under his stage name "Randy Ray". It became a local hit and one of his most requested songs at the club. In 2007, the song was covered by Carrie Underwood on her album Carnival Ride. Her version was released in February 2009 and was re-recorded and re-released in March as a duet with Travis. Underwood's and Travis's duet peaked at number two on the U.S. country charts in 2009.

Randy Bruce Traywick, known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country music and gospel music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor.

AllMusic is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne.

The Boston Herald is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulitzer Prizes in its history, including four for editorial writing and three for photography before it was converted to tabloid format in 1981. The Herald was named one of the "10 Newspapers That 'Do It Right'" in 2012 by Editor & Publisher.

Entertainment Weekly is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular culture. The magazine debuted on February 16, 1990, in New York City, and ceased print publication in 2022.

Newsday is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and formerly it was "Newsday, the Long Island Newspaper". The newspaper's headquarters is in Melville, New York, in Suffolk County. Newsday has won 19 Pulitzer Prizes and has been a finalist for 20 more.

Robert Thomas Christgau is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop, riot grrrl, and the import of African popular music in the West. Christgau spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University. CNN senior writer Jamie Allen has called Christgau "the E. F. Hutton of the music world – when he talks, people listen."

Rolling Stone is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its coverage of rock music and political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine broadened and shifted its focus to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors, and popular music. It has since returned to its traditional mix of content, including music, entertainment, and politics.

Audrey Faith McGraw, known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.

Céline Marie Claudette Dion is a Canadian singer. Referred to as "Queen of Power Ballads" and Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her music has incorporated genres such as pop, rock, R&B, gospel, and classical music. Her recordings since have been mainly in English and French, although she has also sung in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese, and Chinese.

Martina Mariea McBride is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States". RIAA is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditional album sales. The album-equivalent unit was introduced in the mid-2010s as an answer to the drop of album sales in the 21st century. Album sales more than halved from 1999 to 2009, declining from a $14.6 to $6.3 billion industry. For instance, the only albums that went platinum in the United States in 2014 were the Frozen soundtrack and Taylor Swift's 1989, whereas several artists' works had in 2013.

Brett James Cornelius is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records as a solo artist in 1995, James charted three singles and released a self-titled debut album that year. He returned to Arista as a recording artist in 2002, releasing two more singles.

"All-American Girl" is a song composed by American country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace. It is the second single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in the United States on December 17, 2007..

Carrie Marie Underwood is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. The next studio album, Carnival Ride (2007) had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), was preceded by the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.

Luke Robert Laird is an American country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 number one Billboard singles, including Carrie Underwood's "So Small", "Temporary Home", and "Undo It"; Blake Shelton's "Gonna"; Sara Evans' "A Little Bit Stronger"; Rodney Atkins's "Take a Back Road"; Eric Church's "Drink in My Hand", "Give Me Back My Hometown", and "Talladega"; Little Big Town's "Pontoon"; Luke Bryan's "I See You" and "Fast"; Thomas Rhett's "T-Shirt"; Kenny Chesney's "American Kids"; Lady Antebellum's "Downtown"; and Jon Pardi's "Head Over Boots." He has also written and produced songs for Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Kacey Musgraves, Toby Keith, Ne-Yo, John Legend, Darius Rucker, and many others.

Hillary Lee Lindsey is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Tim McGraw and Luke Bryan. In 2006 and 2016, respectively, Lindsey won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song for Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and for Little Big Town's "Girl Crush". In 2011, Lindsey received an Academy Award nomination for "Coming Home", recorded by Gwyneth Paltrow for the soundtrack of Country Strong, in the Best Original Song category. "Coming Home" also received a Golden Globe nomination that same year for Best Original Song along with "There's a Place for Us", making Lindsey a double nominee in 2011. As of 2018, she has had 20 number-one singles as a writer.

"Just a Dream" is a country song, released as the fourth single from Carrie Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. The song was written by Gordie Sampson, Steve McEwan, and Hillary Lindsey. The song was officially released to radio on July 21, 2008. A video for the song was released on August 5, 2008. The song was nominated for 2010 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Gordon Francis Sampson is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia.

"Last Name" is a song recorded by American country music singer Carrie Underwood and written by Underwood, Hillary Lindsey, and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted. At the 51st Grammy Awards, the song won Underwood her third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. It has sold 1,300,000 copies to date.

Carrie Marie Underwood is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the only solo country artist in the 2000s to have a number-one song on the Hot 100. Her debut album, Some Hearts (2005), was bolstered by the successful crossover singles "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Before He Cheats", becoming the best-selling solo female debut album in country music history. She won three Grammy Awards for the album, including Best New Artist. The next studio album, Carnival Ride (2007) had one of the biggest opening weeks of all time by a female artist and won two Grammy Awards. Her third studio album, Play On (2009), was preceded by the single "Cowboy Casanova", which had one of the biggest single-week upward movements on the Hot 100.

The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated sound by creating an electric current from rotating a metal tonewheel near an electromagnetic pickup, and then strengthening the signal with an amplifier to drive a speaker cabinet. The organ is commonly used with the Leslie speaker.

The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional acoustic guitar, in which the performer's fingertips press the strings against frets, the pitch of a steel guitar is changed by pressing a polished steel bar against plucked strings. Though the instrument does not have frets, it displays markers that resemble them. Lap steels may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, depending on whether they are acoustic or electric, but in either case, do not have pedals, distinguishing them from pedal steel guitar.

Gordon Francis Sampson is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia.

A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 strings, although,there are 4 string, 5 string, 6 string, 5 double string, 6, and even 4 a triple string course versions also exist. A variety of string types are used, with steel strings being the most common and usually the least expensive. The courses are typically tuned in an interval of perfect fifths, with the same tuning as a violin. Also, like the violin, it is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello and mandobass.

Paul V. Franklin is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly for his work as a steel guitarist. He began his career in the 1970s as a member of Barbara Mandrell's road band; in addition he toured with Vince Gill, Mel Tillis, Jerry Reed and Dire Straits. He has since become a prolific session musician in Nashville, playing on more than 500 albums. He has been named by the Academy of Country Music as Best Steel Guitarist on several occasions. He was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019. With thirty, Franklin is the most nominated person in CMA history and is notable for having been nominated for the Country Music Association Award for Musician of the Year twenty nine times but has yet to win.

Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar.

Mike Johnson is an American experimental rock guitarist and composer, best known as the co-founder and member of the Denver-based avant-rock group Thinking Plague. He has also been a member of Hamster Theatre and The Science Group, and has collaborated with several musicians, including Bob Drake, Susanne Lewis and Janet Feder.

The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the official Australian music chart in June 1988, succeeding the Kent Music Report, which had been Australia's national music sales charts since 1974.

Billboard is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.

"All-American Girl" is a song composed by American country pop singer Carrie Underwood, Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace. It is the second single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride, released in the United States on December 17, 2007..

"Last Name" is a song recorded by American country music singer Carrie Underwood and written by Underwood, Hillary Lindsey, and Luke Laird. It is the third single from Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. It was released in the United States on April 7, 2008, by which point the song had already charted. At the 51st Grammy Awards, the song won Underwood her third consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. It has sold 1,300,000 copies to date.

"Just a Dream" is a country song, released as the fourth single from Carrie Underwood's second studio album, Carnival Ride. The song was written by Gordie Sampson, Steve McEwan, and Hillary Lindsey. The song was officially released to radio on July 21, 2008. A video for the song was released on August 5, 2008. The song was nominated for 2010 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

"I Told You So" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Randy Travis from his 1987 album, Always & Forever. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard and Canadian RPM country singles charts in June 1988. Travis had first recorded it on his 1983 album Live at the Nashville Palace under his stage name "Randy Ray". It became a local hit and one of his most requested songs at the club. In 2007, the song was covered by Carrie Underwood on her album Carnival Ride. Her version was released in February 2009 and was re-recorded and re-released in March as a duet with Travis. Underwood's and Travis's duet peaked at number two on the U.S. country charts in 2009.