Carrie Marie Underwood was born to Stephen and Carole Underwood in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She was raised on her parents' farm in the rural town of Checotah, Oklahoma.[8] She has two older sisters, Shanna Means and Stephanie Shelton. Her father worked in a sawmill, while her mother was an elementary school teacher. During her childhood, Underwood had performed at Robbins Memorial Talent Show while also singing at the Free Will Baptist Church and later on for local events in Checotah, including Old Settler's Day and the Lion's Club. In 1996, she was in the process of getting a contract with Capitol Records, but the deal was canceled when the recording company's management changed. Underwood graduated from Checotah High School in 2001 as salutatorian. After high school, she attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, graduating magna cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in mass communication and an emphasis in journalism. Underwood is a member of the Alpha Iota chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. For two years during the summer, she performed in Northeastern State University's Downtown Country show in Tahlequah. She also competed in numerous beauty pageants at the university and was selected as Miss NSU runner-up in 2004. In the summer of 2004, Underwood auditioned for American Idol in St. Louis, Missouri. On May 25, 2005, Underwood was crowned the winner of the fourth season of American Idol. Underwood came back the next season of American Idol to perform her single "Jesus Take the Wheel". Underwood was back again on Tuesday, May 19, 2009, to perform the farewell song of Season 8, "Home Sweet Home". Underwood's debut album, entitled Some Hearts, was released to store shelves on November 15, 2005, entering the Billboard 200 chart with 315,000 copies sold. The large first week sales of Some Hearts made it number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the biggest debut of any country artist since the advent of the SoundScan system in 1991. Some Hearts has since been certified septuple Platinum by the RIAA, and is the fastest-selling debut country album in the history of the SoundScan era. On December 7, 2006, Underwood's album Some Hearts received four Grammy nominations. Underwood received two Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, becoming only the second country artist to ever win this award after Leann Rimes and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" won Best Country Song for the songwriters Gordie Sampson, Brett James and Hillary Lindsey. Underwood also received a nomination for "Song of the Year". Her nomination marked the first time that an American Idol winner or contestant had been nominated in the Best New Artist category. The award ceremony was held on February 11, 2007, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. She sang the Eagles song "Life in the Fast Lane" alongside Grammy nominees Rascal Flatts. She also sang the Eagles' "Desperado" to honour Don Henley of The Eagles. On February 10, 2008, Underwood was nominated for a combined total of four Grammys including Song of the Year for "Before He Cheats". She won one Grammy Award that night, for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, and her song won for Best Country Song both for her hit, "Before He Cheats". Underwood also performed "Before He Cheats" on the Grammy Awards, with a more powerful vocal ending. On February 8, 2009, Underwood, for the third year in a row, won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Last Name", which she performed during the show, for a total of four Grammy awards in three years. "Ever Ever After", which she recorded for the soundtrack of the 2007 film Enchanted, was also nominated for a Grammy Award under the category Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. On December 2, 2009, Underwood received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her No. 1 song "Just a Dream" and a nomination for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for "I Told You So" with Randy Travis, the later of which she won to score her the 5th Grammy of her career. In August 2007, Underwood began dating Chace Crawford of the American television series Gossip Girl. On October 4, 2007, People magazine reported that the two were seen holding hands in New York City, though according to further reports, they ended their relationship in the spring of 2008. Underwood then began to date Canadian hockey centre Mike Fisher of the Ottawa Senators in October after meeting him at her March 2008 Ottawa concert. Just over a year later, on December 20, 2009, Underwood and Fisher became engaged, with the hockey star confirming reports at the Senators morning skate the following day. Although Underwood and Fisher are engaged, there is no set wedding date at this time, they are aiming to getting married sometime next summer of 2011. Underwood's image was one of three selected to appear on the cover of the 2010 edition of the World Almanac and Book of Facts. This makes her the second American Idol winner to make the cover of the annual publication, following David Cook.