Photo: Getty Images
Carrie Underwood nearly didn’t record “Before He Cheats.”
The Grammy-winning country star, 42, reflected on the scathing cheating anthem two decades after it cemented her as a powerhouse in country music. Underwood included “Before He Cheats” on Some Hearts, her debut studio album that released in 2005 after her career-launching victory on American Idol, and released it as a single in 2006.
“I remember even when we were talking about recording that song, it was kind of like, ‘Oh, is this too aggressive?’” Underwood said in a recent interview with PEOPLE. The Oklahoma-born country artist reminisced on the iconic anthem in November 2025 at an American Idol event. Underwood, who returned to the show as a judge 20 years after she won the show’s fourth season, explained, “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.’ …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 is returning as a judge on American Idol for her second consecutive year. She’s returning alongside judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and host Ryan Seacrest, who crowned Underwood the Idol winner in 2005. The new season of American Idol kicks off on Monday (January 26). The show will air on ABC and stream on Hulu. Watch Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” video below.