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Carrie Underwood's Grunge Rock Past: 'I Was All About Pearl Jam'

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

In addition to her powerful pipes and "Good Girl" demeanor, Carrie Underwood is known for her flirty dresses and sexy hotpants, but there was a time back in the '90s when the "American Idol"-winning singer was far more likely to be found in grunge rock-approved attire.

"You know those stupid school pictures that you'd always forget about until you got there? I wore those wide-legged jeans, like skater wide-legged jeans and a black and white oversized plaid shirt," Carrie confesses to The Boot. "And I remember when I got my picture back, one of my friends saying I looked like I was going to go rob somebody. Like I was a menace!"

Carrie's grunge past goes a lot deeper than the collection of Seattle-inspired plaid shirts she still keeps in her closet. As it turns out, the Oklahoman country crooner was raised on rock 'n roll.

"I grew up listening to '80s glam hair metal. Then, when I got older in the '90s, the whole grunge thing was huge and I was totally into it. I was all about Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana and all of that stuff."

Now Carrie's tastes run about as wide as her old skater jeans and, even though the recently released Blown Away is still very much a country album, she thinks it reflects the fact that she listens to a little bit of everything.

"People don't listen to one genre of music. They don't listen to one specific kind of artist. My iPod is rannn-dom," she says, practically stretching 'random' into a four-syllable word with her emphatic drawl. "I would guess everybody else's is, too. It's OK to listen to random things back to back, and I definitely feel like I'm influenced by that."

At this point in her career, the country superstar says she feels comfortable and confident enough in her abilities and tastes to follow her musical muse wherever it takes her.

Arista

"I feel like, with my fourth album, I can really do what I want," says Carrie. "It's not like I need to appeal to and appease this certain group of people. I want to go what feels good to me and what's best for the song and for the album."

In the case of Blown Away, doing what was best for the album meant going into the songwriting and song selection process with a completely open mind.

"I try not to put parameters on things when I'm writing or when I'm listening to things," she says. "I don't want to be like, 'I need a big power ballad and that's all I'm looking at!' and ignoring everything else and potentially missing out on really great writing opportunities because I'm trying too hard to write one kind of song."

She didn't try too hard to force one type of vibe or feeling on the album as whole, either. Although Blown Away is already earning a reputation for being Carrie's "dark" album, and it does take the singer through some previously unexplored territory filled with revenge and murder plots, the singer is quick to point out that there's a lot more to it than unrelenting morbidity.

"We definitely take some of the songs in a darker direction," she says. "That said, I also have light, happy songs and have songs that are more traditional country than I've ever done before, so we take the album in a lot of different directions."

Carrie hopes that people like her musical and emotional hybrid, ("If there's nobody out there to hear my music, does it really matter that I'm making it?" she muses) but also displays a bit of that old school picture day attitude when it comes to Blown Away's critical and commercial success.

"It could totally backfire," she shrugs. "But at least I've done something that I really want to do."

Flip Through Photos of Carrie Underwood
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Ernest DeBrew III

She is hot. She is a good singer. I love what she does.

May 29 2012 at 12:46 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
il3itchl

I love Carrie Underwood!!!!...I love her music, her attitude, her morals, she always does what she wants to do not what other people want her to do. She's am extremely real and down to earth person. There is so much great things I can say about her but it would take me hours to write everyting. She is a TRUE IDOL!!!! I look up to her as a role model. I would love to meet her. I'm disabled and i got to a point in my life where i gave up, had no friends, and all my family except my mom stood by me. Listening to her music and reading about her made me realize what am i doing to myself because of what others have done to me. My spirits were lifted and each day i grow stronger and stronger and i thank God everyday for giving me a second chance at life, since i was pretty much clinical dead, but it wasn't my time to go and i had just started fighting to live and i wasn't giving up. Thank you Carrie, you're the best!! Each idividual one of ur songs somehow is connected to something that i went through in my life and still am. I'm still fighting. I hope someday I get to meet you and personally thank you. Keep doing what you are doing, follow your heart because it has never steered you wrong. Good Luck with everything, and I wish you and your family nothing but happiness,health, and good fortune. Thank you so much again...Tania J.

May 28 2012 at 5:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kennedy

i loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee carrie underwood! i would die if i met her!

May 28 2012 at 3:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dovieira

Great Job Carrie Underwood !!!

May 28 2012 at 3:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
houndawg3

From the AOL headline you'd think she was into performing donkey shows or something. Who cares if she listened to Pearl Jam? AOL, find some important news to report, and quit with the bait and switch crap.

May 28 2012 at 3:35 PM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
peekinv

There is one thing I can say about Carrie is that she has Class. Say what you want, she can sing anything she wants to and she sings it well. Lyrics to songs are lyrics and may or may not reflect on past experiences. Don't always believe these have to be personal experiences either. One of the things that proved to me that she was more than just a typical Hollywood fake was when I learned that she had provided each of the next years contestants with a necklace from Tyfany's. No media, no coverage, just a wonderful thoughtful gift. Dont give in to Hollywood Carrie, continue to be yourself!

May 28 2012 at 3:07 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
beansy50

I'd love to eat her!!!

May 28 2012 at 2:58 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to beansy50's comment
Ernest DeBrew III

Save some for me.

May 29 2012 at 12:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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