 Nashville, TN (SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT) - With unprecedented speed, 2005 American Idol Carrie Underwood has emerged as a Double-Platinum country sensation, setting new records in music history seemingly on a weekly basis, while topping sales and airplay charts with her debut 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville album, Some Hearts. This week, Carrie's 'Jesus, Take the Wheel' claims its sixth week as the most-played country single in the nation, setting yet another historic benchmark on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart with the most weeks at No 1 for a single from a new artist debut album in the Nielsen BDS era. With her album's first single now at No 1 for a month and a half, the darling of Checotah, Oklahoma has accomplished a chart feat surpassed by only one solo female artist in the annals of country music, when Connie Smith held the top spot for eight weeks with her '60s classic, 'Once a Day.' In just over three months on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart, Carrie's juggernaut collection, Some Hearts, has spent an incredible 11 of 13 weeks at No 1, becoming the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. Carrie also wrote a new page in RIAA record books when Some Hearts earned the all-time fastest Double-Platinum certification of a debut country album.
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