Carrie Underwood Reaches Monumental Career Milestone

Gerry Maceda, Richard Lui/The Desert Sun

The “Church Bells” are ringing loud and proud for Carrie Underwood!

Underwood debuted “Church Bells” in April 2016, and it was an instant hit. The song first charted at the 49th spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, but that was before it was officially released as a single. 

After Underwood released “Church Bells” on its own and following her show-stopping performance of the song at the ACM Awards, it re-entered the chart at the 34th spot. It eventually peaked at the second spot on the chart, a spot in which it remained for a total of three weeks.

As for the Billboard Country Airplay chart, “Church Bells” debuted there at the 50th spot, before it started its climb up the charts. Then, on Monday (July 18), Underwood revealed some big news regarding the song’s status on the charts.

In a post to her Facebook page, Underwood shared that “Church Bells” had officially claimed the top spot on the Country Airplay chart, making it her 24th number one single of all time.

This is a monumental moment in Underwood’s career, for multiple reasons. Now that “Church Bells” has hit number one, it marks Underwood’s 15th chart topper on the Country Airplay chart in particular. That extends her record as the female country artist with the most number one hits on that chart.

Written by the talented songwriting team of Zach Crowell, Brett James, and Hillary Lindsey, “Church Bells” tells the story of a young woman named Jenny who marries a rich man. But after he abuses her, Jenny manages to break free from her situation in a shocking way.

“Church Bells” is a song that’s been likened by Underwood to Bobbie Gentry‘s song, “Fancy,” which was made famous by Reba McEntire. 

After reaching such a major milestone, it seems that “Church Bells” may have the same staying power as “Fancy.” You can watch Underwood’s recent Opry performance of her new number one hit in the video below.

Congratulations to Underwood on this huge accomplishment!