Chart Rewind: In 2006, Carrie Underwood Carved Her Name Into the No. 1 Spot
Categoria: Musica
The star’s revenge single turned Hot Country Songs into a “Cheats” sheet.
Por Billboard | 11/11/2026
Carrie Underwood took a Louisville slugger to Billboard ’s Hot Country Songs chart two decades ago, when “Before He Cheats” stomped into the No. 1 position on the Nov. 11, 2006, list. Related Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie Will Return For ‘American Idol’ Season 25 Miranda Lambert Thinks She & Carrie Underwood Deserve a ‘Ribbon for Surviving’ Male-Dominated Era of Country Music Chart Rewind: In 2016, the Country Music Association Engineered the Ultimate Group Effort Underwood was not the original target for the feisty title. Songwriters Chris Tompkins (Dierks Bentley’s “Drunk on a Plane,” Florida Georgia Line’s “Dirt”) and Josh Kear (Lady A’s “Need You Now,” Lainey Wilson’s “Watermelon Moonshine”) had “Redneck Woman” singer Gretchen Wilson in mind for the story of a woman who trashes her cheatin’ boyfriend’s vehicle in a fit of anger. Underwood had developed a brand as a heartland girl next door as a competitor on Fox’s American Idol , which she won in May 2005. “Cheats” broke that mold, though she didn’t need coaching to recognize its potency; she identified it as a song she wanted to record the first time she heard it. Produced by Mark Bright (Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans), “Cheats” emerged as the third of four radio-promoted country singles from Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts , released by Arista Nashville on Nov. 15, 2005. After “Jesus, Take the Wheel” became her first Hot Country Songs leader on Jan. 21, 2006, follow-up “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” reached No. 2 that August. “Cheats” snuck onto the list in February and charted during most of the run of “Forget,” becoming an obvious single in the process. “Cheats” also became a crossover smash, climbing to the top 10 on Pop Airplay, Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary in 2007. That June, it rode to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 during a 64-week run on the chart overall, then the fifth-longest in the ranking’s history. “Cheats” won single of the year from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association, and it also set up Underwood as a powerful voice for take-no-prisoners female anthems.