Carrie Underwood Team Going Too Far in Exploiting Personal Tragedy
When you first heard about Carrie Underwood’s unfortunate fall and her need for hospitalization in November of 2017, it was hard not to feel bad for the country star regardless of how you felt about her music. Releasing the song “Cry Pretty” as part of the personal revelations about the injury made the story especially poignant. But as time went on with all of the overhyped face reveals and endless tabloid media stories on the matter, the whole thing began to feel opportunistic, if not downright exploitative of the unfortunate situation Carrie Underwood suffered.
Then came the release of Carrie Underwood tour dates for 2019, way ahead of when such things would normally be revealed, and coinciding with the announcement that she was pregnant. At that point you began to sense a pattern of personal details paralleling the news of music matters as a strategy to market her new record.
Now the big news over the same weekend Carrie released the new album Cry Pretty is that she experienced three miscarriages recently. Obviously this was a difficult experience for Underwood and her husband, and your heart can only go out to her as you imagine the grief she felt trying to add a fourth member to her young family. Beyond any music issues, the health and well-being of artists should always be a priority.
But at this point, utilizing Carrie Underwood’s personal matters to promote her music has become ridiculous and incredibly transparent, to the point of insulting the intelligence of the country music public. If you can’t see what’s going on here, you’re either not paying attention, or are so swept up in Carrie Underwood fandom, your perspective is without objectivity. Even then, elements of Carrie Underwood’s notoriously loyal fanbase are beginning to become fatigued by all of the tragic Carrie Underwood news, and its coinciding with important markers on her album release calendar. Revealing three miscarriages is probably something more fit for a late career biography as opposed to a way to bolster album sales.
Of course this is nothing new. Celebrities have been piggybacking personal information to important entertainment news to promote their careers for decades. We’ve just rarely see it employed with such a heavy hand, especially in country music. And you almost can’t blame Carrie Underwood and her team for choosing this route. With mainstream country radio offering little support to women, often they have to resort to other avenues of promotion to connect with an audience. And since country music media has devolved into nothing more than celebrity gossip mining and lifestyle reporting with the occasional foray into political rancor exploitation, riding Carrie Underwood’s personal tragedies for public attention is probably not a bad promotional strategy.
Still, it’s fair to question if it’s any of our business how many miscarriages Carrie Underwood has experienced, not to mention how hard it might be for Carrie Underwood herself to reveal such things just to keep her name in the news. Instead, the focus should be on the music, how this is the first record Carrie Underwood has co-produced, and why her label chose to pull promotion from her lead single two weeks before the album release, which is pretty unheard of from a major country artist, even if the song was scoring low.
The whole stretegy just smacks of desperation, while were witnessing the tabling off of yet another star in country music prematurely. Many artists reveal details of their personal lives to help create appeal and intrigue beyond their music. But we’ve never seen an artist go so hard in this direction as we’re seeing from the Carrie Underwood team.
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Saving Country Music review Carrie Underwood’s new album is forthcoming.
September 18, 2018 @ 8:53 am
Or maybe it’s part of the explanation why she was being so secretive there for a while and people made up up stories like her husband was beating her. Might also explain why her pregnancy and album release coincided. Best to always think the worse though.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:29 pm
Thank you! She has been getting all kinds of hate for not speaking up and when she finally does she gets even more hate. This article is disgusting.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:34 pm
Oh, stop it! This shit is so annoying! Everything is a PR move. You don’t get it.
November 14, 2019 @ 2:16 pm
I think the journalist is right. Why do these celebrities have to tell us all about their lives. Seriously not interested. Everyone has issues, problems, that they have to deal with. It’s unnecessary to tell the world EVERYTHING about your past, your relationships, your this your that. Give it up. Nobody’s cares. We all have our own lives to deal with. Quit airing all your dirt.
Quit whining and crying. Most of you have more than everyone else on the planet. If you don’t you’re over spending. Get over yourselves!!
March 3, 2021 @ 12:02 pm
Carrie didn’t she came out about it AFTER a media vultures looked for gossip every single day, someone in her team leaked her accident. I guarantee that person is not part of her team anymore. With one news article, 50 million weird social media vultures were preying on any kind of news, the journalist and writers need to go back to school and learn how to do their job the right, respectful way. So many writers of these sites twisted and used their own words, so I understand how Carrie had to speak up to Robin Roberts about the truth. Carrie is a private person,
September 18, 2018 @ 9:39 pm
Greg I am so thankful you pointed this out all I could see is some lame journalist trying to make brownie points with their boss so its like they’re picking out Carrie to trash as far as I am concerned if she doesn’t speak up and say something they print lies if she does decide to speak up they still moan and groan
September 20, 2018 @ 5:01 am
Cheryl, are you new here? Trigger doesn’t have a boss to impress.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:15 pm
I am totally a Carrie fan!! But, you all have to agree this album is definitely about someones life & she has had some major issues. When she started her music career she was gospel & country now its just totally complete sadness. If she would not have put the news out there no one would judge her & if you honestly can say some of these songs dont fit your life! Well then some of you are not normal. Love U Carrie!! Just becareful what you say because we live in a wicked world & its cruel..
September 18, 2018 @ 1:19 pm
Lmao right, this article is seriously pathetic.
“The whole stretegy just smacks of desperation” – sure you’re not talking about your own clickbait bullshit Trig?
July 23, 2021 @ 12:25 am
I suffered a miscarriage and I think y’all trying to speculate is ridiculous. I can’t imagine going through 3 so leave her alone. I applaud her for being real and it is courageous not commercializing whatsoever! It helps other women to know they are not alone. So let’s just leave Carrie alone and let her live her life.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:09 am
A totally unfair characterization of a great artist and her marketing team. No wonder women have such a difficult time sustaining success in country music. Why don’t you talk about the quality of the album — whether the songwriting, production and singing measure up to her past successes, and whether she still has something relevant to say? Those are all fair points of discussion, regardless of the artist’s gender. Women are obviously getting less radio play, which translates into fewer record sales, but it’s not a reflection on the quality of their work or how they market themselves. It’s indicative of a systemic problem in the industry, and it needs to change.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:22 am
The album will be discussed in due course. Oh the irony of saying we should be focusing on the music (which I said above myself) when all the marketing team for Carrie and and the media are focusing on is her personal life.
Carrie Underwood’s team overplayed their hand. It’s unpopular among some to say it, but 100% true. And this perspective is shared not to demonize Carrie or her team, but to offer constructive criticism before she faces even more backlash and tune out from the public for harping on personal tragedies.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:31 am
Genuine question: where are you seeing the backlash from this? Randoms on Twitter?
September 19, 2018 @ 7:20 pm
She got creamed in the comments section on a WaPo article. I think she came forth with the info on her miscarriages because she was dumped on for saying she was getting too old to have a big family. But, I agree with Trigger on this. I hate the tendency of stars to be secretive about their private lives and then dump personal tidbits when promoting new music. Talking about her miscarriages probably wouldn’t have seemed too much if she hadn’t just gone through the overly dramatic face reveal.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:59 am
Blah bla blah, CU music and singing speaks for itself, this is just like tabloid crap. You gripe because she doesn’t share enough, then you gripe because she does. It’s about the music….not drama.
September 18, 2018 @ 4:12 pm
I’ve never griped that Carrie Underwood doesn’t share enough. Never seen that from others either. Have no idea where that is coming from.
September 18, 2018 @ 4:38 pm
Off topic but heard a segment on NPR about a Blaze Foley biopic on my way home from work just now. Sounds awesome. I’m hoping you do a write up on that and bring his name to some of the more mainstream fans around here that may not know him.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:40 am
You people in the media make me sick. Leave Carrie alone. You clowns in the media are never satisfied.
September 19, 2018 @ 11:05 am
At this point in Carrie Underwood’s career, I wish someone would write a song and dedicate it to her. The title should be: ‘Jesus Take The Microphone’ …
September 20, 2018 @ 10:46 am
Jerk much?If you don’t like her music,I get it,but do not joke about Jesus take the microphone.That’s rude,nasty & totally uncalled for.Could you be anymore of a jerk if you tried?
September 18, 2018 @ 1:31 pm
They have not concentrated on her personal life. That is just a sexist lie. You all in the media have. I never see you saying that to men when they talk about drinking and breakups etc and you won’t. She has had 3 miscarriages and finally once talked about her life the other day. You are a sexist woman hater and have always been over the years. Go ahead and deny it for the readers.Your male buddies who also hate women will come to your rescue denying it blah blah.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:57 pm
I completely agree it’s the media that has focused on Carrie’s personal life and created this problem. I even take some responsibility as a media member. That is why I couldn’t live with myself without speaking up about this issue.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:41 pm
Lost all respect for you & your website…. To attack a women in country – saying her team is “desperate” is sick and rude. I’m sure her Capitol Records didn’t tell her to tell her personal story. – I think its brave to – a lot of families go through those situations of loss.
You are the problem Trigger, you are spreading unwanted awareness of it. Digging up needless drama.
The decent thing to do is, delete this article…
September 18, 2018 @ 1:52 pm
Yeah that’s probably not going to happen.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:45 pm
Lol. Good for you trigger. What ever trigger said in this article that was so offensive, I guess I’m missing. Carrie Underwood is one of the most calculated, manufactured singers as of recent. I thought the same thing. This is not attack on women or anything. Trigger has been an amazing advocate for female artist. You guys need to take a deep breath
September 18, 2018 @ 2:28 pm
Could you sound anymore rude if you tried?I may get some flak for this, but I do think that her team has a lot to do with this.Its just wrong on their part to try and use her miscarriages to sell her album when its her music that should be doing the talking.I think you have no right to tell Trigger to keep his mouth shut when he was stating his opinion that her marketing team shouldn’t be using her tragedy to market her music.He isn’t going to delete the article, no matter how much you whine and complain that what he’s saying is wrong.Let him have his opinion and if its wrong, let him suffer the consequences later.He isn’t attacking her specifically he saying that her team shouldn’t be using her miscarriages to market her music, its wrong that you think he’s attacking her personally.Could you be anymore nasty if you tried?
September 18, 2018 @ 8:26 pm
It is getting beyond ridiculous that these days women can’t be criticized at all without being called sexist. Next time an article comes out ripping Florida Georgia Lone to shreds and I will wait and see where all you white knights are then to virtue signal
September 19, 2018 @ 2:35 pm
Criticizing an artists music is not the same as chastising a woman and her staff for her decision to be brave and speak out about something deeply personal. Don’t compare apples with oranges. The point being made was that a lot of males have been open and honest about personal issues like drinking, affairs etc when promoting an album yet they don’t get chastised and told it’s too much and it’s desperation from their team to promote an album. No they are seen as brave and a hero for speaking out. It’s is double standards, so it’s okay for men to have issues and speak openly about them to promote their work or to raise awareness but a woman does it and she’s desperately seeking attention. Let’s be clear Carrie talked about her fall months and months ago even before Cry Pretty was released as a single. She moved on from it and went to work gearing up for the album to come out – the media are the ones carrying that story on not her so they are the ones who need to get over it cause she has. She said at the time of her fall she would talk about the other stuff later and now she has. As someone who believes in God I doubt she just did this for attention, she would have talked it over with her husband and God before speaking out. Perhaps her intention is to raise awareness that this is an issue woman go through and it’s okay to talk about openly and not be afraid to get angry and upset. To know you don’t have to be strong all the time. And it is the reason this album is so personal to her which is what she said when making it, so it is her connecting on an emotional level but there is nothing wrong with that. Taylor Swift does it all the time and no one says this kind of thing. Carrie has never done this in her 10+ years and the one time she gets personal people basically tell her to shut up and sing! Men need to understand and accept that when it comes to woman’s issues you are sorely under qualified on the topic.
February 28, 2021 @ 12:09 am
Your so Right. She’s not even Country Music. Only boring Pop music
Stay out of Nashville. Go to New York.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:44 am
Ok…let’s talk about the album.
It’s a playing-it-safe & partly trend chasing pop album. Name checking Hank, Haggard & Jones on “Ghost On The Stereo” is not helping.
“…And everybody tonight is feelin’ alright with some jack in their coke…”. Lazy writing, more of the same & overused.
Awful cover & the voice of Carrie Underwood is not as good as it was.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:06 am
She may name drop Hank and Haggard, but she also got Ben Haggard and Holly Williams to perform on the track, so it’s a more genuine effort than most.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:04 pm
Window dressing…
The production is pure pop trying to sound somewhat “country”.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:51 pm
So like everything Carrie has done. I get you don’t like her, and the trope is overused, but at least she made an effort to respect the legends.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:13 am
Mostly agree. I do think the songs she co-wrote are the best on the album, but still another step too far towards pop trends. That said, “Drinking Alone” is as country as you can get. Awesome awesome song!
September 20, 2018 @ 11:00 am
I get that you don’t like her,& that’s fine,but her voice isn’t as good as it once was?What are you,high?Her voice sounds better than ever & she has more awards than you could ever hope to win in your entire miserable,pathetic existence!!Unless you have any vocal talent to speak of,then shut up if you have nothing nice to say!!Jerk!!
September 18, 2018 @ 9:16 am
She really can’t win with some people. For years people have said she’s too closed off, her music isn’t personal enough, she should bare her soul. ( I won’t even go into how sexist it is that women are expected to bare their souls and men aren’t). When she does open up you accuse her of exploiting her personal tragedies. Thousands of women heard her words and felt like they weren’t alone and maybe if she could talk about these issues they could too.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:16 am
I’m seeing multiple people comment that people criticized Carrie Underwood for being too closed off. I’m not saying that criticism isn’t out there, but I haven’t personally seen it. And as someone who has reviewed multiple Carrie Underwood songs and albums both positively and critically, I’ve never said that myself.
In fact in my review for her album ‘Storyteller” I said, “But the moment the album shines is when Carrie Underwood cuts all the badass crap and creates moments that are very personal. Why put the song “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted” last when it is one of the best songs on the record? The touching ode of a new mother is enhanced by being something true and very personal to Underwood’s heart…
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/why-carrie-underwoods-producer-credits-for-cry-pretty-are-critically-important/
September 18, 2018 @ 1:35 pm
You only did that because people kept criticizing you for your hate reviews towards women. You could tell you were almost cringing having to say it.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:01 pm
Ah yes, the HUNDREDS of articles I’ve written supporting women in music, and Carrie Underwood specifically are just sandbags to insulate me from criticism so I can continue to be the raging sexist I am. Ironically though, I’ve written more articles in support of women than all the other people who hang on Twitter professing their support of this issue, but offering nothing more than “PLAY MORE WOMEN! EVERYTHING IS SEXIST!”
You actually start presenting ideas, solutions, expose the underlying problems like I’ve done with Carrie Underwood specifically, and these Twitter trolls feel threatened, because this is THEIR issue, not some man’s.
September 18, 2018 @ 8:27 pm
I bet you haven’t even taken the time to read his article about Caitlyn Smith, Sarah Shook or the one about Jaime Wyatt he JUST put out. But go ahead, keep making baseless accusations of sexism. It’s pretty entertaining
September 19, 2018 @ 7:23 pm
Oh stop whining.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:17 am
I’m also hoping you will write a similar article about a woman exploiting her personal life when Miranda Lambert uses her almost 4 year old divorce as a talking point and marketing tool with the new Pistol Annies album coming out. Wouldn’t want to be seen as playing favorites now would you. At least Carrie’s miscarriages happened in 2018.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:51 am
False equivalence. Miranda writes and sings about her life which is why she brings up her past. Carrie openly says she doesn’t want to sing about her life, but then reveals such personal info without even hinting about it on the actual album. That is what you call a marketing ploy. This need for Carrie fans to constantly bring up Miranda just to say something negative is one reason why everybody rational hates Carrie’s fandom.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:18 am
This is Carrie’s life. She has every right to speak about her life just like Miranda has the right to speak about hers. Calling one woman out for doing the exact same thing another woman is doing is hypocritical and gross. Carrie and Miranda are country’s 2 top female artists. They will always be compared. Deal with it.
September 18, 2018 @ 5:44 pm
Amen Grayson!!!!
September 18, 2018 @ 10:00 am
Most all artists use personal lifestyle gaming to help market their music. This is one of the reasons Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert got married in the first place, and why so many celebrities marry each other. It is a way to help keep their names in the media, and forward their careers. However Carrie Underwood and her team have gone way too far with it, and way before the miscarriage news. The reason I felt the need to share this criticism is I think it is resulting in people tuning Carrie Underwood out, making her look opportunistic, and putting the music tertiary to the celebrity and the brand. If folks disagree with that, I understand. But I’m just sharing a perspective many others share, and have throughout her entire album starting with the incessant and redundant stories on her face that started this whole cycle.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:05 am
Many others, who?
Carrie is opportunistic but others marrying for country clout and Miranda using her divorce as a talking point into 2018 is just perfectly fine? Like I said I’m just waiting to see your similar attack on her the minute she utters the word divorce in her upcoming promo. We’ll see how much integrity you have then.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:10 am
Just to add you might have failed to notice that miscarriage and speaking out about the stigma of miscarriage has been in the news lately. Women speaking up about their fertility issues are be lauded for helping other women deal with their issues especially the mental health aspect of feeling that they were the cause of their miscarriage and feeling like a failure. The far majority of comments I’ve seen on Carrie articles have people praising her for adding to the discussion.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:18 am
Again, this article is not a rebuttal to the miscarriage news. I could, and should have written it when the incessant articles about her face were being traipsed out one after another.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:49 am
She made one comment to her fan club. She didn’t write a million articles about herself.
You wrote this article for clicks.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:03 pm
Bullshit. She worked with People Magazine, Bobby Bones, morning talk shows, she went on an entire media blitz about the face injury. It started as a small note to her fans. It turned into a media circus, fueled by Carrie’s handlers who saw a narrative they could exploit. ABC used it in commercials to get people to tune into the CMA Awards. Again, if I was Carrie’s people, I might do the same thing. But if you don’t think this entire thing isn’t marketing from stem to stern, you’re either blinded by fandom, or just incredibly dense.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:21 pm
She made a comment to fans that got picked up by everybody in the media. Why should she be ashamed and not speak about her accident? Did she plan her fall and miscarriages just to have something to use as a marketing ploy 10 months later?
She’s doing promo for her album. She wrote 6 songs. She’s talking about what influenced her and what she went through. Call it whatever you want but your ass better be on every other artist talking about how their personal lives affected their current releases or else your nothing but a huge hypocrite.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:20 am
Grasping at straws here…………
September 18, 2018 @ 11:31 am
“Just to add you might have failed to notice that miscarriage and speaking out about the stigma of miscarriage has been in the news lately.”
Which makes it even more evident that it’s a PR campaign for the new album.
It’s called “piggybacking” in marketing terminology.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:47 am
Yep I’m sure she planned 3 miscarriages just to have something to talk about when her new album released. You know plan it all out in advance.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:23 pm
You’re still not getting it.
Her TEAM is exploiting her miscarriages for album sales.
You’re making this way more difficult than it has to be.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:11 pm
You’re not getting it that without Carrie feeling comfortable enough to share her experiences about what happened to her this past year nothing would come from it. Carrie sat down and spoke about her life and her faith. NOT HER TEAM.
She’s also Carrie Underwood not some nobody. Her album without the miscarriage reveal was predicted to sell over 200k her debut week. How do your country faves stack up? You guys keep throwing up these made up stories about exploitation when the truth is you’re just trying to cover for being an asshole.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:33 am
Wow another completely unfair assumption. You have absolutely no way of knowing anything about Blake and Miranda’s personal relationship or any other celebrity couple.
September 19, 2018 @ 10:00 am
I totally agree that it was all planned. But I don’t blame her for sharing it on THIS week. If she were to share this news to the world, why must she wait another 20 years for a memoir? Might as well help the album get more attention!
I understand that you think that this is all very Hollywood-ish exploitation but isn’t that part of the deal? As an artist, isn’t making music part of their life and vice versa, you can’t separate the two, think about it, if you want to be some big deal in this business, you gotta give something for the audience to get behind the music and connect. Not only that, I think she’s giving millions of women who had been through the same shitty situation some kind of relief, which is actually a good thing.
To the point that this might start a “Trend” that might turn people away from their music instead to the celebrity news&tabloids: if anybody had a terrible year like she did in 2017-2018, and if that can transcend into more music that speaks to other people, then have at it, use it for all kinds of marketing gimmicks as you want, maybe it will attract more people to their music, who knows, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
I understand that when the title track came out, it was a little overly dramatic that she went on multiple interviews talking about her merely noticeable scar on her face. But again, she’s doing her job, promoting her music, I really don’t blame her or her team for doing so.
The only thing that actually disappointed me was the fact that the music wasn’t as good as I expected it to be, but at least it got my attention.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:19 am
Wow, yikes Trigger. Yes, I am a fan of hers, but I like to think I’ve always been pretty objective. I agree seeing the media blow up every instagram picture in the beginning of the year was annoying, but now that we learned that was the timing of her third straight miscarriage, maybe it was easier to let the media freak about that so that she had a reason to stay out of the public’s eye while she recovered (both physically and emotionally) from what was seemingly a really shitty year and a half.
Also, considering she said that the miscarriages directly impacted the album, it makes sense that she talks about it now if she was comfortable. No different than people taking about divorces/happiness/deaths/other personal info that goes into an album. I will also never blame anyone, no matter who, for revealing miscarriages on their own time.
Since they did a tour bundle, they had to announce it so early. Sure, that coincided with the baby announcement, but is that such a big deal? I respect you and your opinion, but I can’t get down with this article
September 18, 2018 @ 10:09 am
This article is not about the miscarriage revelation specifically, though this seems to be the focus of many who want to criticize the opinion of this article because it makes me come across as callous or somehow uncaring on the issue. As you said, this started months ago when it was one major story after another about Carrie Underwood’s face, which in the end was a nothing story. Carrie Underwood’s marketing team is jobbing the media to get Carrie Underwood into headlines, and using personal revelations to do so. I think this is a troubling trend where among other things, artists, and especially women artists, may feel the need to reveal details in their personal lives just to receive the attention of their male counterparts. As I said in the article, I kind of don’t blame Carrie Underwood’s team for doing this. I completely understand it. But I think it creates a bad precedent for the media, women in the mainstream, and speaks to a much more societal problem of obsession over the personal lives of celebrities. Carrie Underwood is a music performer. The focus should be on her music, not on her personal life. Unfortunately though, without revealing details in her personal life, nobody will pay attention to the music.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:34 am
When you write an article about her psersonal revelations “smack[ing] of desperation” when those revelations include three miscarriages that directly informed her writing and performance, I’m not sure there should be much surprise that people have an issue with it, even if it wasn’t your intent. I think we just have a very different outlook on it. At this point, I’m not mad at her team for the media’s reaction to her single fan club post and any social media activity. I’m upset that that the media took the face thing that far. But considering she suffered a miscarriage during that, I don’t blame her for not finding a way to put a stop to that when she had much more important things to worry about. I just think there’s probably not a lot of middle ground here, people are either going to be fine with it, or they aren’t. I still haven’t seen the backlash you’ve referenced, so I guess we’ll see how it affects things.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:25 am
Trigger, you have really missed the boat here. Women (and probably men) who experience miscarriages (myself included) go through a lot of pain, loneliness, and isolation (e.g. “everyone else is having babies, why can’t I?” “Why am I broken when everyone else can do this?” etc…)
When celebrities use their platform to bring awareness and solidarity, it can be really helpful. For many years, women were expected to stay silent about miscarriages and suffer and grieve alone. Carrie’s letting us know we aren’t alone. Sadly, your attitude reinforces that expectation of silence.
It seems obvious to me that Carrie’s sharing her experience because a) she finds sharing it helpful and b) she thinks it will help others. That you would attribute it to trying to sell records is really downright malicious on your part.
I, personally, will not be supporting your site anymore until you write an apology.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:41 am
Sometimes the truth hurts, especially when you’re a big fan. However, I think Trigger is spot on with this article and I can easily see comments ballooning over 100.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:35 am
A lot of folks are mischaracterizing this article as a reaction to Carrie Underwood’s revelation about her miscarriages. This is not true. The miscarriages were covered in one paragraph of a seven paragraph article. They were offered simply as further evidence of the transparent timeline of using important moments in the release cycle of her record to reveal personal details about her life that started with the incessant and exploitative “face reveals” that went on for weeks. If Carrie Underwood’s revelations about miscarriages help some women cope with that issue, then I think that is great. But I also think it’s very concerning if the only way women in country music can get their names into headlines is by revealing very personal information. This sets a very bad precedent moving forward, both for how the media and music artists operate.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:59 pm
So you think you are doing women in the industry a service for writing this?
September 18, 2018 @ 11:00 am
I have only seen one interview with Carrie and that was on Sunday morning news show. I have seen other media shows using a portion of that interview. The FULL interview was not about her album but about her faith and how she turned to it in her time of need. She turned to God for answers and she believes God answered her prayer. My own opinion is that underneath she was wanting to let people know there had been other problems besides her fall. I thought the interview was great. She’s a good person and if you talk to her hometown, you would find out how down to earth she still is. Plus all of her reaching out to those in need in her Oklahoma town is definitely well known here. (Oklahoma) Sorry to see this article.
September 19, 2018 @ 7:34 pm
I thought her miscarriage reveal was weird. I respect her faithfulness, but a lot of people have miscarriages and then aren’t able to get pregnant. To say God listened to her and what? He doesn’t listen to others?
September 20, 2018 @ 11:10 am
Would you just stop criticizing her already?It’s pretty clear you don’t like her or her music,so just stop being such a bitch.If you actually respected her faithfulness,you wouldn’t minimize what she went through last year.She never said that God didn’t listen to others,she only said that he heard her prayer & he answered it!!Sorry that you don’t like her or her music,but that doesn’t give you the right to diminish her story because you found one detail that was lacking!!Just stop being such a bitch,it’s so obvious by now that you clearly don’t like her or her music!!
September 20, 2018 @ 5:36 pm
I love Carrie. I know what she said – I heard her. Stop throwing hissy fits – it’s very unattractive. You aren’t her keeper. She’ll be fine without you trolling the internet on her behalf.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:32 am
For the most part, Carrie has chosen to keep her private life private, rightfully so. I admired the fact that she doesn’t feel the need to document every moment through social media. I’ve been surprised with how her team has marketed this album. I recognize that they are are trying to use a “real-life/relatable Carrie’s just like you approach.” but it’s gone overboard.
This whole lifestyle branding concept that country music has been fascinated over the past few years is really starting to take a toll. Their life tragedies aren’t going to persuade me to buy an album – I bought the album because I enjoy the music. There are plenty of artists that I listen to that I have no idea what their background entails.
In this month’s issue of Redbook magazine, Carrie is the cover story. There was a backlash regarding the fact that she was quoted saying that being 35 perhaps her and her husband waited too long and wouldn’t have as many children as they thought they would. Internet comments bashed her saying at least she was fortunate to have kids, could afford to have infertility treatment, etc…basically saying that Carrie had a choice not to have more kids. I feel like the narrative behind the CBS interview divulging the details of her miscarriages was used to stop those comments.
Such an odd rollout for a highly anticipated release.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:45 am
Oh wow. As a woman this was very hard to read. If Carrie wants to empower women and share this very personal struggle then that is her right and should be celebrated, not criticized. Criticize her music, not her personal life decision to share with her fan base. Also Miranda shared her divorce for over 3 years yet I never heard you say she was using her personal life as exploitation. (No Miranda dis, she has a right to share her personal struggles just like all women should.)
September 18, 2018 @ 10:36 am
I feel like as a woman I need to say even though its sad what she went through it was a bit odd for me to hear about it when she is doing an interview marketing an album. It would have been more sincere to hear about it in a song. I agree with trigger this whole marketing strategy has not placed enough emphasis on the music.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:41 am
Women are being systematically downgraded, not empowered, by having to rely on revealing pregnancies, the sex of babies, who they’ve just married, and what personal tragedies they’ve suffered to get the media to pay attention to their artistic efforts. Sure, some of this is common, and has been going on for years. But with the Carrie Underwood rollout, it’s gone way overboard, and it’s diluting where the focus should be, which is on her music.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:03 am
And you know this because you are a woman? Come on stop trying to say you know what we are empowered by. You can have your opinion on this roll out but I think you need to own up to the fact your approach may no have been the best.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:30 am
I think the article was spot on and I am a women!
September 18, 2018 @ 11:32 am
It’s is up to critics to say unpopular things, regardless of the public backlash, and now more than ever since the media has become such an echo chamber, so click driven, and so embedded in the back pocket of the industry. I appreciate that some feel this criticism was too pointed, and I respect that. I am also proud to host a form for people to share their own opinions right beside mine with the same audience. I think this is an important topic, and was worthy of being broached.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:52 am
A lot of the blame you are placing on Carrie’s marketing team actually belongs with the media, and is a natural consequence of being a public figure.
There was no “face reveal” promoted by her team. That notion is pattently false. Carrie herself released one note about how she wasn’t sure how she would look very early on in the healing process. It made total sense for her to do this..seeing as she couldn’t stay completely out of the public eye without someone seeing her and potentially starting rumors (husband beating, for example). From that day forward, the MEDIA obsessed over what her face was going to look like (not Carrie’s team). Carrie would simply post a picture (as she normally would…she wasn’t going to just stop engaging in social media) and the media would turn it into “WHERE ARE THE SCARS, SHE IS HIDING HER FACE” etc. Like i said, it’s an unfortunate consequence of being a public figure, but in no way is this her team’s “fault.”
As far as the album is concerned, it HAS been promoted as her most personal. Naturally, the media is gong to (fairly) ask what she means by that and want some context. So Carrie chooses to answer those questions honestly and open up about her struggles (something she had been criticized for NOT doing in the past). Did you expect her to not answer questions about why the album was personal? And of course these questions are going to line up with the album release because that is when the album is being covered in the press…it’s not some elaborate marketing play. Was she supposed to balk at any questions about the personal nature of the album and wait to release some “tell-all autobiography” like you suggested? Now THAT sounds like a marketing play..
From Carrie’s perspective, I’m a believer that she was ok with sharing these difficult moments not only to provide context for the album, but to show people that it’s ok (strong, even) to be vulnerable and talk about the struggles life deals sometimes. Already on social media there has been an extremely positive responses from others who have experienced miscarriages. I think it’s a horrifically cynical (and really, unsubstantiated) premise to suggest that all of this has been a marketing move.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:50 am
I totally agree this is all being media driven. Music media and the media in general is failing, and have to do everything they can to generate clicks. In depth stories about the importance of Carrie Underwood producing her own record (like Saving Country Music posted: https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/why-carrie-underwoods-producer-credits-for-cry-pretty-are-critically-important/ ), or how she had her single pulled from radio prematurely (linked above in the article), don’t get clicks. Baby news does. The goal of Carrie Underwood and her team is to get her name and face in as many media outlets as possible to drive attention to her career. In that respect, the rollout of “Cry Pretty” has been masterful by using personal tragedies to garner attention. However at times it has gone too far, and resulted in a transparency upon their motivations and marketing.
And don’t fool yourself. This is all marketing. 100% Otherwise, you wait to reveal these things when you don’t have something to promote.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:38 pm
Her team didn’t pull it prematurely. If you actually watched the charts you would have know that the songs struggled for a month even when the label was pushing it. They finally got it to number 6 before it crashed hard. What’s the point of pushing for two more weeks when they had already been pushing for over a month and getting nowhere?
September 19, 2018 @ 7:41 pm
Oh come on. The ridiculous photos she posted with her face hidden and with a big red X on her face… That was purposely building up to a reveal. I understand that she didn’t know early on what she was facing, but she went too far with the drama.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:53 am
The album flat out sucked with the exception of a song or two. I love Carrie’s old stuff but she’s going to have to do a lot to win me back. Album is pure Pop trash nothing more to say.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:54 am
It was all a bit much. Hopefully more people are noticing it’s just for album promo. Debuting less then 250k is sort of a let down after so much drama and personal info being revealed. What would she have done without the facial scar, pregnancy announcement, tour bundle and miscarriage stories. I’m thinking way less then 100k. That’s really not worth it. She let out enough info to easily sail past one million first week. Less then 250k should have been her second week numbers.
September 18, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
What interesting to note is that apart from the fact that most BIG artists are bundling, before the interview on Sunday she was projected to sell between 185-205k traditional album sales. No one whose name isn’t Adele or Taylor Swift has sold more than 1million in a single week so expecting her to sell that much is ludacris. People with better performing lead singles have performed worse.
Carrie can’t really seem to win no matter what she does, I think I should also point out that Dierks Bentley bundled and still sold less. That’s just one of her many male counterparts who have bundled and sold less…
September 18, 2018 @ 10:01 am
I have never commented on one of these ridiculous stories before…but really!! Leave the girl alone. The fact that she first was slammed for simply stating more children may not be in her future. Now it is out there that just maybe she was dealing with bigger issues. I have never lost a child, but I am a nurse and I watch people deal with stress and loss in all types of ways. So my reaction to your article is not a Mom thing, or even a Woman thing…it is a human being thing. Your article spouting your opinion as if it is fact shows your complete ignorance to real life.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:53 am
The facts are the facts, but yes, this is mostly an opinion piece, and was presented as such. It was also presented fully knowing that opinion would be unpopular to many, but that it was still important to offer constructive concern about how we are marketing women in music today.
September 18, 2018 @ 6:38 pm
The opinion of a music critic on how a person’s life is too integrated in their PR team’s marketing, posted within days of the person sharing that they have suffered 3 (3!) miscarriages is one of the most crass things I’ve seen. You say she should have waited until a biography to share such info. You should have waited to post this article for when hell froze over.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:36 am
I am not.goimg to get into a huge debate about this, you have your opinion I have mine. Respectfully I do not think you were trying to champion women , or how they are marked. I think you have a job and you wanted to write a piece that would cause a visceral reaction.
I am not necessarily a Carrie Underwood fan, but she doesn’t seem like the kind of girl that allows people to handle her. The fact that a loss of one child( let alone 3) could have ended in depression, loss of a marriage, and so much else who cares if she put her sadness into her work?
It’s my belief all genre of music being in the public eye is part of their job. I believe Rush had a song about it “Limelight “.
So I say if she wants to handle how her story is delivered, good for.her.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:02 am
Trigger, I see why it can be tough for you to comment on female artists. It seems like you take flak–including here–every time you do.
Natch, you’ll take flak if you don’t talk about them so maybe it’s a wash.
September 18, 2018 @ 5:08 pm
The trolling of journalists and publications by people who purport to advocate for women in music is very specifically resulting in less coverage for women, and is turning much of the positive coverage for women negative through false characterizations. Regardless of what you say or how you say it, if you talk about women, your words will be pulled out-of-context and twisted to make you look like a sexist, and often when you’re very specifically advocating for women in music. It is easier, and better to just not write about women at all, and this is the approach numerous publications and writers are taking to mitigate negative blowback. Ultimately this trolling of journalists and publications has little to do with advocacy for women. It has to do with turf wars being perpetrated by journalists often through anonymous Twitter accounts who are looking to exploit the women’s issue to gain power in the media.
September 19, 2018 @ 7:13 am
It’s such a shame that people are afraid to write about women at all. And I agree that many of the fucking ridiculous comments on these articles do wind up showing women in a negative light.
However, I would be interested in your take on what women should do when they genuinely feel that an article (or comment, or whatever) is sexist. Just not comment so as not to cause trouble? I think the culture has been skewed so much to normalizing sexism, moreso than even the most feminist-friendly man can even realize, that what seems like “not at all sexist” to men, seems like “so much better, but still kinda sexist” to many of us. (to be clear, I’m not talking necessarily about this article specifically.)
Further, I think that men who are trying really hard to combat sexism, are sometimes unwilling to consider that they may in fact still sometimes say and do sexist things.
I don’t know the solution. It’s certainly not to take to comments sections, and give writers like you hell, and tell you you had better bitch about Miranda next, lol. I just think that reasonable women are torn between biting their tongue so as not to be “angry feminists” and feeling a sense of wanting to point out problematic articles and ideas where they see them, to continue to push the discourse in the direction of truly equal and not just “much better than 1952.”
September 19, 2018 @ 10:34 am
As Sean Penn recently said, “I’m very suspicious of a movement that gets glomed on to in great stridency and rage, and without nuance. And even when people try to discuss it in a nuanced way, the nuance itself is attacked.”
I read every single comment left on this site, sent to me via social media, every email in my inbox, and am constantly challenging my own ideas and belief systems. There is no greater critic of Saving Country Music than myself. I’m also proud to host a forum where anyone, regardless of how misguided I may believe they are, can come here and offer their opinion in a forum where many other people will read it, sharing my audience with my detractors.
I have been advocating for equality for the women of country music since the inception of Saving Country Music, and as an active and primary focus for the last eight years. Over that time, I have listened to the concerns of women, and have changed my habits, including not prefacing women by their gender when not necessary, and trying to understand their perspectives in deeper ways. That said, this current environment is not about creating dialogue, or even trying to champion the cause for women. It is about attempting to destroy certain men to invert the social hierarchy, some of which probably deserve to be destroyed, but others who are being attacked simply because they’re men.
I’ve been doing this for 10 years. I knew exactly what the blowback was going to be to this article, chose my words wisely, and stand behind them 100%. Sure, if this article was a direct attack on Carrie Underwood’s miscarriage revelations as some are characterizing, it would be callous. But that’s not what’s going on whatsoever. If people want to mischaracterize my words, I can’t control that. If folks are too lazy to read beyond reactions on social media, that’s on them. All I can do is make sure what I am saying is fair, true, and honest, and assume an intelligent audience, even if that’s not the case, or people are just too lazy to read for themselves.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:16 am
The backlash has already started. Way too much info. into her personal life. From what I’m reading on social media, Carrie Underwood has now been named the Official Drama queen of Country Music. I see patern here with Carrie.
She’s the only one in charge of her career.
Sometimes the signs are there. something is off about Carrie.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:42 pm
But she is the furthest thing from a drama queen that there is.She is the least dramatic person compared to these rappers that have to have a beef with another artist just to sell their music, if you can even call it that.I’m sorry, but you blaming Carrie is just so unfair.Its not her fault that the media is making this story into something its not.You saying that there’s something off about her is wrong and totally uncalled for.She isn’t being the dramatic one here, you are.How dare you blame Carrie in all of this!!She is the innocent one here,blame her marketing team if you’re looking for someone to blame!!
September 18, 2018 @ 10:18 am
There’s nothing in this world, short of compensation for my time, that would make me listen to Carrie Underwood willingly.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:48 pm
Then don’t comment on here if you can’t be nice about her!!If you have nothing nice to say about her, then do not say anything at all!!You’re probably not her target market anyways!!
September 20, 2018 @ 5:41 pm
Theresa, this isn’t a board for snowflakes. You should hang out on a Carrie fan board. Your blood pressure will thank you.
September 19, 2018 @ 10:50 am
At this point in Carrie Underwood’s career, I wish someone would write a song and dedicate it to her. The title should be: ‘Jesus Take The Microphone’ …
September 18, 2018 @ 10:39 am
I’m sure you’ll get enough heat for the thesis of the article itself, so I’ll hold back on that one.
But can you stop with this “the label pulled promotion” narrative? It’s such a misleading characterization.
The label only “pulled promotion” because it hit a clear brick wall. Radio programmers clearly didn’t want to take this to number one. The sales weren’t good. The streams weren’t good. The research wasn’t spectacular. Cry Pretty was not a #1 record.
There had been red flags about the song for a while, and the label easily could have abandoned ship weeks ago and given itself enough time to launch the follow-up before the album. The fact that they didn’t do that — and kept pushing — suggests that they really wanted this to go #1. But it just wasn’t meant to be.
Could they have conceivably begged radio to keep it going? Possibly. But the rewards of getting a paper #1 with a song that wasn’t connecting did not justify the cost of such a push.
I mean … this does happen. Important songs DO miss #1. “Yeah Boy” represented Kelsea Ballerini’s shot at a fourth #1 from a debut album. Far more meaningful than Carrie getting another #1 at this point in her career. And we know Black River is all-in on working Kelsea’s songs to radio. Yet that didn’t hit #1.
Maren Morris’ “My Church” didn’t go to #1 … and that was a debut single from an artist being sold as the future of female country. Do you really think the label pulled promotion because it felt like it?
Keith Urban’s “Female” missed #1 as well.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:00 am
It’s not about hitting #1, it’s about the marketing spend on a single being carried through to the release of the new album, or a subsequent single. Yes, “Cry Pretty” was never going to hit #1, and it may not even have risen in the charts any farther. But you keep it on the radio to help promote the record until the release date. This is the common practice throughout the industry. And yes, I think this issue is part and parcel with the way they decided to use Carrie Underwood’s personal information to market this record. If she was not going to find the radio support she enjoyed in the past, they needed an alternative avenue. When the face issue took off into a massive story that continued on for weeks, a light bulb went off with her marketing team.
Folks love to complain about no women on radio charts, but they’re not digging deep down into the systemic reasons why. Two weeks without “Cry Pretty” on the charts was two weeks less for a woman on country radio. It’s also the reason Carrie Underwood’s personal revelations are preceding her music. Either we address these issues, or they continue to exacerbate. Or, people can continue to scream “PLAY MORE WOMEN!” and hope something changes, which it won’t.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:04 am
What do you mean? Isn’t “Love Wins” the second single? I’ve already heard it on the radio and she released a music video.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:47 pm
It appears that “Love Wins” is the new single. When it was first released, there was no confirmation if it was a new single or an instant grat track, but now it appears to be a full-blown single.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:39 am
Did anyone even notice a mark on her face? Not saying the incident didn’t occur but since she looks the same after 40 stitches and reconstructive surgery maybe that was just a story her team made up to keep her out of the spotlight longer because they didn’t want to talk about the miscarriages at that time. Like I said… don’t know if it happened or not I wasn’t there… just speculating here. Also want to say… Trigger is my boy but come on man do you really think she would use the pain of miscarring three times to sell her music? She wasn’t even worried about it at the time. I’ve seen the pain in my family… losing one she’ll never know… it haunts a woman forever. Kudos to her for being strong enough to talk about it. Think before you write next time Trig.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:40 am
“do you really think she would use the pain of miscarring three times to sell her music?”
No but her label would.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:06 pm
Maybe I’m stupid but I imagine she would have to give her label consent to use it since it is a) a personal private matter and b) she is out there talking about it.
September 18, 2018 @ 4:32 pm
You’re not stupid.
You’re just naive about how the music bidness works.
September 18, 2018 @ 5:34 pm
Wasn’t aware you worked on Music Row. Sorry. My apologies.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:00 pm
She has a scar and her upper lip is mishapen. It’s not obvious but it is there and that’s with professional make up. People critiquing her music is fine but calling her a liar without evidence is way over the top. This site devolves into personal attacks way too often. I’m done.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:10 pm
Didn’t call her a liar. Said I was just speculating. Feel bad for the woman for all that she has gone through… how can you not.
September 19, 2018 @ 6:32 am
“Wasn’t aware you worked on Music Row. Sorry. My apologies.”
There are plenty of books out there that detail how the music business works. Nasty details and all.
If I were you, I would go to Amazon and buy “Hit Men.” It was written in the early 90s but most definitely still applies today.
There are even former major label employees that wrote reviews on Amazon for the book affirming everything you can find in the book.
September 19, 2018 @ 7:52 pm
She hurt her face. She has scars. Makeup covers a lot. It’s not fair to add to the rumors that she made it up to have cosmetic surgery. That’s just absurd.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:46 am
From here on out, I really have to remember to ONLY read your news, reviews and opinions of MUSIC. For me, every time you wade into social issues, politics, assumptions of the business and now what women should/should not speak about, it’s pretty much an unmitigated disaster. It also takes away credibility from your expertise on traditional country music (and it’s related genres). It’s your site and certainly your right, but this is SUCH a bad take.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:38 am
This article has nothing to do with what women should or should not speak about. This is a reduction of the opinions shared in this article filtered through the opinions of others on Twitter.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:42 am
“For me, every time you wade into social issues, politics, assumptions of the business and now what women should/should not speak about, it’s pretty much an unmitigated disaster.”
Maybe that’s more of a reflection on you than Trig.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:47 am
Also, the reason there are so many negative comments here and on Twitter is Carrie Underwood has an incredibly loyal fan base that stretches into the media, and they will defend her at any cost, making it look more like an “unmitigated disaster” than it actually is. Both publicly and privately, a lot of folks agree with the sentiments of this article.
Also, this article is not an attack on Carrie Underwood, despite it being characterized as such by many. It is attack on the culture pervading media, the industry, and popular culture to focus on celebrity as opposed to music. Regardless of how messy or unpopular it is, someone had to broach this subject. I’ve got my big boy pants on. I can take a pounding.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:48 am
Last comment by me for this article, but she was predicted to sell 200k copies before any affect from the interview could be measured. If anyone thinks her personal life is being shared because people won’t care about her music otherwise, I’m not sure what else there is to say. She’s about to have one of the best selling first weeks of a country cd in a few years, and that’s not because of some media coverage.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:53 am
I am not a fan of CU’s music or voice and I do sympathize with her recent tradgedies but god this screams desperation and shame on Country Music for putting her in this position. I guarantee she will regret sharing these VERY personal details just to sell albums, she has no more cards to play. You can’t tell me there are not dozens of female musicians who have suffered miscarriages and we never heard about them, privacy is sacred ESPECIALLY for celebrities……..
September 18, 2018 @ 11:05 am
Good comment. The more public your life, the more important it is to keep a strong, grounded personal life out of the public spotlight to help keep your equilibrium.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:09 am
Its a bullshit comment. I want evidence that Carrie was forced to speak about her miscarriages.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:08 am
How the hell do you know she was forced to speak about miscarriages. I want receipts.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:37 am
I didnt say she was forced, she obviously met with her team and they told her she was going to have to do/say something big to get people talking about her album. She would never have done this had she not been on board. Carrie is 35 years old and has been around a while, her star is fading. It happens to all celebrities/musicians but what is interesting is to see how they react to it. Unfortuntley in country music it happens to females way sooner than males.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:45 am
Wow that’s a dumb comment. I’m glad everything is obvious to you about her marketing strategies, I’m sure you were there right beside her when she made them.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:59 am
Billboard is predicting the equivalent of 210 000 album sales for her first week. That was before her miscarriage reveal. If that means her star is fading then other women in country’s careers must be completely dead. Nice try though.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:09 pm
Ummm…..what female country singer over 35 radio singing career is not dead? Martina, Faith, Reba…..etc. Again, NOT a personal attack on Carrie just stating the facts. All or most of these women have found other ways to bring in an income but thier radio days are over. It will eventually happen to Carrie and she knows it (she see’s what happened to Miranda) and she and her team are trying to stop it. This was thier strategy. Carrie was a media darling for a long time but the tide seems to be shifting, a prime example is SNF. The amount of negative attention every sunday night would never have happened 5-10 years ago……….she is no longer a sure thing……
September 18, 2018 @ 12:32 pm
If all women over 35’s radio careers are dead then why even bother going to the lengths you claims she’s going to, to get a song on the radio? Carrie and Miranda’s radio careers are nothing alike because Carrie actually has a radio career. She’s had more number 1 songs off 1 album than Miranda’s had her entire career. You’re also trying to weasel yourself from sales to radio. At least stick to keeping your flimsy arguments to the same path.
Carrie didn’t need to bring up her personal life. She’s outselling the majority of country artists without it.
September 18, 2018 @ 10:55 am
So happy another man feels the need to criticize and judge a woman for sharing her struggles with childbirth. Naturally such a personal revelation would, well, trigger criticism. Daddy knows best, right?
Someone said it best: Carrie is criticized for years for being too personal, and now that she is shedding some light behind the scenes, she is still criticized.
Smh. What a messy world we live in.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:17 am
You must ask yourself WHY now is she sharing her personal life? And the whole point of the article is about the marketing strategy behind the album NOT a personal attack on Carrie. God you fans are something else, can’t even take a step back and look at the situation objectivley. SMH
September 18, 2018 @ 2:19 pm
I think the marketing strategy on this whole album has just really been off this whole album era.I think she may have had a little to do with the marketing, but I think it was mostly her marketing team who just took this glitter stuff way too far.She’s too talented to have such a stupid marketing strategy that is more befitting of a 20 something pop star.She doesn’t need the glitter to sell her music, real tears would’ve been so much better given what she had been dealing with her miscarriages.I know this may be off topic, but I do not trust her label head as far as I can throw her, there is just something about her that I just don’t like.But I do think the marketing strategy for this album was just all wrong from the beginning,that much I can agree with.I love her to pieces but even I can see this objectively because the marketing was the big thing that I’ve hated so much this time around.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:02 am
Now look, when Carrie mentioned the accident, she did it in a private letter to her fan club. The media got hold of that letter and ran with it alleging multiple conspiracies like it wasn’t a fall and it could be a domestic abuse injury. She never went to the media with this information, they sought it out. Her whole return and performance at the ACMs was hyped up by a media she never talked to. She deliberately skipped the red carpet and never sat in her seat the entire show.
Later on in the year, she did an interview in which she said it might be too late in her life to have a big family, and she got trashed by bloggers and critics saying she was only 35 and still young enough to have more kids. How the hell do you think that makes someone with 3 miscarriages feel? There’s a stigma in society around miscarriages and talking about them and feeling the need to bring them up in a public way because people are telling you how easy it is to have more kids must be an extremely difficult decision, and I think she waited until AFTER the album release as to not draw more attention from it by the media and overshadow the release itself.
I don’t disagree that exploiting your personal tragedies to sell albums may look desperate to some. But when the media took her private letter and one line from an interview and massively twisted and manipulated her words, I think it’s unfair to criticize her reaction.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:05 am
I’m not convinced this was a promotional strategy. I totally agree that it’s easy to say that based on the apparent over-exploitation of her accident a year ago, but miscarriage is an extremely touchy subject, one that is rarely mentioned even by the highest echelon of celebrity. So for one of the top-selling female Country artists to come out and say something about it is, to me, a way of her saying one of two things: She’s at a point in her career where she feels she should say something about it, to help empower other women who struggle with the same issues, or she’s got enough control over her career now to where she can say something without being hamstringed by a higher power (or marketing people). Keep in mind she was tied to that American Idol contract and all that it entailed for about 10 years, so who’s to say she wanted to say something before, but couldn’t? We all know how female Country singers are handcuffed to say/think/do what someone else wants them to, far more than their male counterparts. I’d chalk it up to her actually wanting to say something about it, rather than a continued exploitation of her personal life.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:06 am
She’s talking about her miscarriages as if she can’t have kids or doesn’t have any kids at all….
I saw an interview and it was uncomfortable to say the least….
Doesn’t she have two kids….I just didn’t understand the purpose of the interview…why or what was the point of the interview other than to get her name and face on tv and in front of millions of people.
She made no reference to helping others who have ‘gone thru the same thing’…
Just a weird deal all around.
And her music is meant for elevators At Best…
September 18, 2018 @ 3:00 pm
She’s talking about her miscarriages because she feels that it might help someone that has has miscarriages not feel so alone, and she has ONE kid and one on the way, could you assume anymore wrongly if you tried?Why does she have to refer to others who have gone through the same thing?Why is it any of your business if she refers to helping others who have gone through the same thing she did?Elevator music?Ha!That’s totally unfair to say her music is elevator music!!I get that you don’t like her music, but do you have to criticize her so harshly in your post?
September 18, 2018 @ 11:06 am
I’ll admit it worked on me. I was disappointed overall in the album (a few great tunes though). However, when I heard her CBS interview a few days later, I couldn’t help but give her a break. That doesn’t change the fact that the album is disappointing, but I’m being a bit less judgmental now.
Whether it’s too much or orchestrated, I don’t know. Definitely impactful though.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:45 am
I am not.goimg to get into a huge debate about this, you have your opinion I have mine. Respectfully I do not think you were trying to champion women , or how they are marked. I think you have a job and you wanted to write a piece that would cause a visceral reaction.
I am not necessarily a Carrie Underwood fan, but she doesn’t seem like the kind of girl that allows people to handle her. The fact that a loss of one child( let alone 3) could have ended in depression, loss of a marriage, and so much else who cares if she put her sadness into her work?
It’s my belief all genre of music being in the public eye is part of their job. I believe Rush had a song about it “Limelight “.
So I say if she wants to handle how her story is delivered, good for.her.
September 18, 2018 @ 11:46 am
This is nothing but an opinion piece by a man. A woman loses three babies in 2 years and decides to share her story and is now being accused of using her story to sell more records. Anyone else want to stand on their soap box and point the finger at Carrie Underwood?
Marketing Team: Hey Carrie can we use your tragedy to sell more records?
Carrie Underwood: Hot damn! Why didn’t I think of that.
Go right ahead.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:00 pm
I love Carrie and I think she’s being unfairly blamed in all of this.If anything,I blame her marketing team & her publicity agency because they are doing NOTHING to head off any controversy that may come out of this story.I just find it hard to believe that she herself would be so duplicitous to use her own miscarriages to sell her new album.I also blame her handlers because they are using her story to try & sell more records & that is what sickens me.I just feel bad she’s being used as a pawn in a game that nobody will win & her name will get unnecessarily dragged through the mud for no good reason.Let Trigger have his opinion, if its wrong let him pay the price later.But I do think that her handlers need to know that using her tragedy to sell her music will backfire on them if they let it & her reputation will get dragged through the mud.That’s the last thing I think anyone wants for her.I think her handlers and her marketing team & her publicity agency have handled everything for this album wrongly from the start by not trying to head off the negative publicity that was coming from her injuries and not saying a word and let her reputation and name get so dragged through the mud that it turned off people from listening to her music and buying her album.
September 18, 2018 @ 4:41 pm
Carrie Underwood can’t object to anything.
She’ll do what her label tells her to do.
That’s the unfortunate truth about being signed to a major label.
September 19, 2018 @ 6:46 am
That’s where I feel sad for her,that she has no voice & no voice or say on how she’s marketed or portrayed in the media.I feel so bad that her personal life is being used as a pawn by her marketing team just to sell records.It sickens me that they’re allowed to even do this to her.Its very little wonder that I feel that I don’t trust her label head as far as I can throw her.Something just seems off about her.Even after getting out of her contract with Sony after being on Idol,she is still basically owned by her record label.I love her to pieces,but I’m not going to attack a guy just for stating an opinion he has every right to.She would be horrified at the way her fandom has been acting,this is not something she would approve of nor condone this type of behavior coming from her own fans,no less.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:07 pm
Damn. I don’t know about this article Trig. I just don’t think it needed to be written, regardless of what you think of her past tragedies.
September 18, 2018 @ 12:08 pm
I couldn’t wait to buy that collection of Merle Haggard records after the People magazine feature article on his decades long battle with athlete’s foot. It really brought home what a regular guy he was. The system works!
September 18, 2018 @ 12:30 pm
What they’re doing with Underwood and her hardships is in many ways an extension of how they sell contestants on shows like American Idol, The Voice, and America’s Got Talent. Most of the participants on those shows have some kind of sob story, and it often seems like the degree of hardship they’ve experienced factors more into their progression through the contest than their singing ability. In the absence of a foul mouthed judge and/or contestants selected purely due to their grotesque lack of talent and ripe for mockery, or a breakout star with genuine talent, these sob stories become the driving force in marketing the shows and the artists.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:37 pm
That’s a great observation. I honestly don’t know if Trigger is right about the marketing aspect, though I’m inclined to agree. I simply don’t know, but I’ve been dismayed at how pop fandom has taken over the “country” mainstream. There’s a cult of Carrie, perhaps only outrivaled by the Kane Brown cult. It’s about the personality and an emotional identification with that personality, wherein an attack on the personality/idol is an attack on oneself. That’s why it’s literally impossible to talk reasonably with a Kane Brown fan. And in regard to this latest album from Carrie, I’ve seen a lot of the same closed-minded defensiveness, even when focusing solely on the music and production.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:50 pm
When MTV started, there was a lot of talk about the shift in focus from the artist’s music to the artist’s image. Now with the internet and social media, we’re seeing another shift away from the music and towards the artist’s personal lives. They spend a massive amount of time and effort interacting with their fans on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Sometimes it can feel like the music is secondary. And you’re absolutely right about fans acting like a criticism of an artist is a personal attack. What should be constructive conversations about the music can quickly dissolve into hostile name calling and insults.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:02 pm
And you are, in turn, using this issue to drum up controversy to drive traffic to the site.
Take a step back and consider the hypocrisy of this.
September 18, 2018 @ 1:06 pm
Hey Trigger, when Jason Isbell did an interview with Rolling Stone talking about his drinking problems and sleeping around on his first wife less than a month after his album (Something More than Free) came out – was that exploiting his personal life to get album sales? Just curious.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/jason-isbells-new-morning-51991/
September 18, 2018 @ 1:51 pm
These equivalent comments are always wrong. Always. Either their patently incorrect, or completely misunderstanding what they’re trying to refute. It undermines whatever point they are trying to make.
But to answer your question, yes it was exploitative, or at least an element of marketing by Jason Isbell. It’s marketing every time Jason Isbell posts pictures of his daughter Mercy on Instagram, or takes a political stance on Twitter. EVERY artist uses personal marketing to appeal to fans and create a deeper loyalty beyond the music, and I have cited Jason Isbell very specifically in the past and multiple times as an example of how most every artist does this. Jason Isbell is the perfect example of how this happens even in the independent music world because he engages in it as much as anybody, but is excellent at hiding it. In fact just four days ago I left a comment on this very issue, just tied to politics instead of celebrity gossip news that dovetails perfectly here.
“Jason Isbell does an interview, and the biggest thing that comes out of it is his stance on some hot button political issue from 15 years ago. There’s a story like this every day. It’s like a flood. Meanwhile, nobody’s even talking about the music anymore.”
You can find the comment here:
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/jason-isbell-has-big-2018-americana-music-awards/comment-page-1/#comment-1011831
As I said in this article, “Many artists reveal details of their personal lives to help create appeal and intrigue beyond their music. But we’ve never seen an artist go so hard in this direction as we’re seeing from the Carrie Underwood team.”
THIS is where the problem lies. Jason Isbell says something in an interview and moves on. With Carrie Underwood, they went to the same well too many times, and it’s become poisoned.
Many times over the past year or so I’ve seen these “For MEN you do THIS, but for WOMEN you do THIS” comments. I’m not saying it’s not true for most media, but it is completely fallacious here, and overall it’s undermining of the effort to create equality for women in music because it’s often false and based completely on assumption.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:19 pm
If Miranda Lambert or Blake Shelton bring up their divorce one more time then lets include them in the point you are trying to convey. Or how about when Luke Bryan used his siblings deaths to attract attention to Drink A Beer? I understand the point you are bringing up of using personal tragedies for marketing and it becoming too much but I just have a hard time understanding your reasoning to use Carrie as the main Scapegoat. It would have been a totally different article if you cited more than just Carrie as an example and probably would have been more well received.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:04 pm
Prob’ly- he needs all the help he can get-
September 18, 2018 @ 1:25 pm
If I do not know the person, I do not care about their personal life.
If a songwriter shares something about how a song came about, okay, or if a movie is about someone who did something extraordinary in life, great.
But who’s dating who or how many kids they have to divide up after the divorce or who got into a fight with who at the club is beyond boring.
Someone going through hard times isn’t going to get me to buy their music.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:01 pm
I used to be a fan until the horrifying accident that messed her face up so bad. Like,ew, who can look at her now? So disgusting EW. I just puked thinking about it. Ugly face. No wonder Husband was out messing around,how can he look at her every morning and not go EWWWWW !
I mean her legs are all hot and stuff but after she farts out another brat those are probabaly gonna be EW too.
September 18, 2018 @ 3:08 pm
HOW RUDE!!Her accident did NOT mess her face up!!Her face isn’t ugly, its more gorgeous than yours probably is!Mike did not cheat on her, he would never cheat on her, that’s untrue and so horribly wrong!!And by the way, how dare you use her sweet, innocent son in all of this!!He isn’t a brat and for you to say that shows that you lack character, morals and worse no heart!!How dare you accuse her husband of doing something that he never did!!You’re despicable!!Her legs are never going to EW,they probably look a lot better than yours ever will!!Her face isn’t messed up, but your outlook and your accusations are totally uncalled for and rude,nasty and you don’t deserve to be a human with your horrible,nasty,rude,horrid and false accusations!!You’re a jerk!!She’s probably more gorgeous than woman that you could ever hope to get in your entire,miserable,life!!How dare you slander her reputation like that!!Jerk!!
September 18, 2018 @ 5:24 pm
Wooooooosh
September 18, 2018 @ 2:09 pm
I had the Tommy Lee Jones retrospective on last night and heard this-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPFP_I1p1w8
September 18, 2018 @ 2:35 pm
I regularly check in for your articles and more than not agree with you, but I think this article was unnecessary and an overreach. Just my two cents.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:44 pm
May I add that Thomas Rhett seems to be milking his family for too much publicity for his career. I am tired of hearing and seeing pictures of his wife and two kids. I am happy for the guy, but let your music speak for itself.
September 18, 2018 @ 2:59 pm
“She got her own set of fans. Got a blue checkmark by her Instagram”
The Life Changes album is too hyped, overrated. But his fans love him for his relationship & personal life.
Don’t forget Daddy Adkins probably opened many doors for TR. I mean, lots of artists and labels owe Pappa Adkins for his songwriting ability. TR comes out at 22 years old & boom – a star is born. Many country artists take years of gigs and songwriting until they get signed to a label. TR gets signed probably when he was 21 yrs old. That’s insanely young. It’s all about who you know…
September 18, 2018 @ 5:18 pm
Mainstream country music media is not interested in covering music. The media is continuing to veer more and more into lifestyle reporting and politics because this is what generates the most traffic, and the artists are expected to follow suit. It is a troubling trend that this Carrie Underwood album release has set a precedent for, and it deserves to be criticized.
September 18, 2018 @ 7:00 pm
A woman deserves to be criticized for talking about her miscarriages, her fall, and the bad year she had and how it all informed the music she made the last year. Trigger, you are a freaking insensitive ass.
September 19, 2018 @ 6:32 am
Shut up,Stacey!!Let him have his opinion,if it’s wrong,it’s wrong,but do NOT bash him for something that a lot of other people outside of country radio probably agree with.Carrie doesn’t need YOU to fight her battles for her,I think she’s perfectly capable of doing that on her own!!He wasn’t attacking her,he was saying that the marketing is what’s made this situation so bad!!Could you get your head out of Carrie’s butt for 2 seconds & at least try to argue logically?This does not make Carrie look better,it makes her look bad when all of you feel like you have to burn him at the stake because he dared to voice his opinion!!Newsflash,Carrie doesn’t care if you defend her on this issue or not!!I bet she has no idea that this is even going on!!You’re the one being an insensitive ass,not Trigger.You’re crazy if you think that this is going to make you more of a diehard fan of hers & get you brownie points!!Stop defending her when it only reflects badly on her & her fandom!!Its very little wonder why she can’t be taken seriously as an artist !!Attacks on an innocent guy are uncalled for & so below what Carrie preaches in Love Wins!!You’te pathetic!!
September 19, 2018 @ 6:34 am
LOL that’s not even remotely what he said but you keep shouting your narrative.
You’re everything that’s wrong with the country today.
September 18, 2018 @ 3:28 pm
It’s sadly ironic that people are taking so much offense to this post. Did I miss something here? To me, this post is actually praising CU as a performer/vocalist and basically calling out the Country music industry for ignoring women and creating a situation where performers/vocalist, such as CU, are forced to use personal tragedy to sell records. It’s truly baffling how any CU fans be offended by this article.
September 18, 2018 @ 4:14 pm
Because the implication that she’s only sharing something so deeply personal and tragic as three miscarriages in such a short period of time to sell albums is pretty brutal. It’s going to have a minor impact at best considering she was already predicted to sell 200k albums before this.
Guaranteed she didn’t sure that for this purpose. No one shares info about miscarriages for publicity, sorry. She gave us context for her past year and how it informed her album, but that’s about the extent of how it relates to her music.
If nothing else, to write this within two days of her interviews just seems pretty tone deaf.
I would’ve said the same thing had he written an article after Hillary Scott talked bout her miscarriage and how it affected her gospel cd.
September 18, 2018 @ 4:18 pm
You don’t even know the difference between ABC and CBS – CMA’s vs. ACM’s referring to a comment you made earlier. People who are turned off at her on twitter are the same people who have always been turned off. This album before the miscarriage news was going to sell 210,000. Now maybe 230,000. So, 10,000 a miscarriage. She would give up that 30,000 to not have to go through that pain again. This article again is just so dumb. I’m not calling it sexist. I’m calling it dumb, hypocritical and not thought out. The fact you said ABC and CMA’s shows how dumb this article is. #bebetter #beabetterjournalist
September 18, 2018 @ 5:23 pm
Okay, it was the ACMs that was running promos for people to tune in and see her face, not the CMAs. Gee, you got me. That comment was in response to folks saying that all the Carrie Underwood team did was release a letter to her fans about it, which is stupendous bullshit. There were half a dozen press releases sent to the media about it. I have them. It was an all out unprecedented media blitz for months upon months.
September 18, 2018 @ 6:05 pm
Timeline – fanbase got a personal letter from Carrie which said, fell, 40 stitches, not sure if I won’t look different, plus something I’m not ready to talk about. First of all face: I’ve had stitches after surgery on my bald head. I struggled with the scar for quite awhile. This letter we got in Feb was still less than two months from CMA’s (notice I know my award shows), so very understandable to not be sure at that point how it would heal. She had a better team than me to make her look the same. She did not interview with one person until after the song release and ACM performance. It is very clear now her emotions on ACM was more than just face – but all the hormonal changes that miscarriages bring you. Not sure if you are aware that every time a woman miscarries their body still reacts as if she delivered. So we are talking months upon months of early pregnancy hormones, and post delivery hormones. No wonder she was not in her seat in the audience. I would hope that would not be expected. I know it was after because Bobby asked her about the performance.
Ask anyone I know, not that you can, but thephrase, not ready to talk about it – I knew it was a miscarriage. I thought the fall might have caused one of them but I have no proof. It was after bobby that media kept bringing it up.
Now to present, besides this hot take, at least for me and most Carrie fans, it’s been all about the music. I’m a part of fan websites and it’s been non stop music talk for weeks and still is. Again the sales figures pre and post miscarriage news – a measly 30,000. Not all of that can be proved to be from tragedy talk. Numbers might rise again after Ellen and Kimmell.
I’ll end with this. I’m ok if it is brought up by Ellen or kimmel. It’s what the song is about for her. If you write a song in the aftermath of a miscarriage, let us know. I think it is great.
September 18, 2018 @ 5:35 pm
Discussing this topic at work today amongst a group of people who do think this is all being done for sales promo led me to search the Internet to see if anyone else feels this way. That led me here and this article seems spot on to me (and many others I talked with). Why this miscarriage news needs to come out now exactly during the week of album release is fairly obvious to everyone. I’m glad others are noticing it too and speaking up about it.
September 18, 2018 @ 8:43 pm
I think you should read Chris Godfrey’s reply above to get a better understanding of the actual background to this latest news and why she has chosen to talk about it now. She’s promoting and album that is very personal to her and the reason it’s so personal is because of what she went through with her miscarriages. Like what else is she supposed to do when asked the question of why it’s so personal? Glaze over it and just say, horrible stuff happened then everybody will want to know what horrible stuff. This way she has been honest on her own terms, and I don’t believe for a second her label made her do this, she does it her way, she’s a very private person usually so this is a big thing for her to reveal. She felt like she needed to open up, good for her. It’s her choice to do so and anyone who’s never been in her shoes and gone through something like this whilst also being a massive international country star dealing with fame and media etc really has no right to judge. What ever happened to empathy.
September 18, 2018 @ 5:54 pm
I think you miss the point Trigger. This is an issue that a lot of woman go through, even more so now than probably a few years ago as more and more woman wait until later in life to have children. To know someone like Carrie has been through this shows other woman that even someone who seems perfect has had hard times and has struggled. Yes it makes her appear human, but then again she is only human Trigger, she’s not a god. It was very brave of her to be so honest because she is a very very private person usually and she’s even admitted that. The only reason she talked about her fall at all (on her fan club page I’d like to point out) was so people didn’t get the wrong idea if they saw her out and about whilst she healed and fair enough, I wouldn’t want someone thinking all kinds of horrible untrue things about me in that situation. Carrie and her team have no control on what the media prints, to suggest Carrie is milking this when it’s the media who takes something and sensationalists it then keeps it going until it’s well past a broken record is misleading and false. She said her piece on her fall months ago and moved on. She decided she was ready to talk about the other things she eluded to in her original post and no doubt her team where there to guide her and give her advice but at the end of the day it was her choice. I don’t for a second believe she would do anything she didn’t want to or talk about things she doesn’t want to just for the sake of commercialization and making money. That’s never been her style, why would she start now. In response to those twitter trolls and keyboard warriors with no remorse who just post whatever negative, angry stuff they want, Carrie is a million times a better human being than any of them and she will always outshine people like that. What did Taylor once say ‘haters gonna hate’. But for critics and those in the media constantly trying to tear her down, American idol was over 10 years ago and Carrie has done more than enough to earn some respect. You make not like her music, her style or her stories but she’s earned the right for people to respect her choices. It’s her choice to be honest publicly, respect it and leave it there.
September 18, 2018 @ 6:11 pm
First and foremost it should be about the music. It’s extremely poor to me. Her voice is usually good to great but doesn’t work for me at all. I just don’t see the hype.
Unless I missed something over the years Sunny Sweeney never talked about her miscarriages. Just made great music and all of a sudden put out a masterpiece about it called “bottle by my bed” that was arguably number one or number two best released song last year.
September 19, 2018 @ 11:39 am
This is EXACTLY what I was thinking about while reading this. If you release a personal song like “Bottle By My Bed” then there will be questions about the personal nature of the music and answering them in an interview is an organic way of discussing it. The fact that Carrie Underwood had to go through 3 miscarriages is horrific. However, it’s not as if a critic listened to the album, understood the songs were obviously a personal narrative, and asked about it. The album is filled with pretty much the same cookie cutter songs you’d expect. I listened to it hoping maybe it might be a little more country or even a little more personal, but it wasn’t. As a woman and a mother, I completely get and agree with what Trigger is stating in this article.
September 18, 2018 @ 6:21 pm
Confused as to what any of this has to do with “saving country music”?
September 18, 2018 @ 6:31 pm
With what just happened with the Willie Nelson fabricated “blacklash” story, with the continued politicization of country music, with certain sites relying more and more on celebrity news like the Carrie Underwood face coverage, I believe that keeping the media in check is one of the most imperative charges to Saving Country Music at the moment, if not the most important one. If country music just devolves into the worship of celebrities, this is an unsustainable model for the genre. This article has everything to do with Saving Country Music.
September 18, 2018 @ 6:53 pm
But if the internet grows to only be the place where we tear each other down on a personal level we’ve won?
September 19, 2018 @ 6:46 am
Again, you’re saying that Trig, like many others that can’t properly read a piece on here, is pinning this on Carrie.
Go back and re-read this piece sloooooowly about ten more times or however long it takes for it register.
September 18, 2018 @ 6:47 pm
They aren’t reading the article correctly! What’s so offensive about this article? No one is being disrespectful! Carrie and her team made a huge deal about her fall and only shared part of what happened promising more. Later revealed the 40-50 stitches in her face. As though fans can only handle a little at a time. Carrie herself insisting she may appear different to her fans while a fan from the Bravo station posted a pic of them together and Carrie looked fine. No big difference! Now all the miscarriages and the happy ending being the pregnancy. What else can it be called but promotion of the record!?! If it wasn’t why release all of the news for the last two years on one day or week to coincide with the release of the album!!! Of course it’s on purpose and planned. The question is… should artist do this to promote their music or not. Trigger did NOT show any disrespect to Carrie! None at all. Actually only posed great question!
September 18, 2018 @ 6:48 pm
At 57, I’m probably older than most of you. Growing up, it wasn’t fashionable to air all
your life’s intimate secrets like some kind of badge of honor. You kept it to yourself because frankly, it was nobody else’s damn business. Everyone had their cross to bear. You did it and you did it quietly. You didn’t make a spectacle of yourself. The internet has changed that apparently. The internet has pretty much ruined everything and this is a shining example. For all the millennials are going to jump at the chance to be offended by this, screw you in advance.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:42 am
So you’re another old person offended by the youth, and you’re making fun of everyone who’s offended by everything? High irony. Keep bangin, gramps.
September 18, 2018 @ 7:05 pm
As someone who has been reading articles on this site for quite some time…as someone who has never purchased any Carrie Underwood music…as someone who has seen close family members face the heartbreaking loss of a child through a miscarriage, I completely fail to see what good would come of this article, so focused on Carrie alone and so close to the information coming out, other than new visitors to the site. When someone has a miscarriage you give them a pass on how they to choose to process that, for approximately…forever. I can’t fathom how you thought the tone and timing of this was okay in any world where your goal isn’t being a heartless jackass.
September 18, 2018 @ 7:58 pm
The only way you can deduce that this article is about Carrie Underwood’s miscarriages and that it is, quote, “so focused on Carrie alone” is by either coming to it based on incorrect assumptions, or through the filter of someone else’s opinion. I went out of my way to not blame Carrie Underwood for anything here. And if your thought is I’ve never criticized anyone else for exploiting personal tragedies to promote their music, this is completely incorrect as well. I respect everyone’s opinion and appreciate feedback from readers. But very regularly when I write articles about women artists these days, individuals who want to mischaracterize Saving Country Music twist words to make articles and opinions look like something they’re not. The idea that this article is a response to Carrie Underwood’s miscarriage news, or that it focuses on her alone is just outright incorrect.
September 18, 2018 @ 8:51 pm
Why does it hurt to realize that so many people missed the point of this article? You people should realize that CU’s team should focus on promoting her music with a little bit of personal stories (that have something to do with the songs/album/process of making the album), not focusing on personal stories with little to none about the actual music. They’ve been milking on Carrie’s unfortunate happenings, and that makes me feel so sad for her, despite not being a fan.
September 18, 2018 @ 9:31 pm
I keep reading comments where people are saying that she shared the news of her fall in a private note to fans.
Let’s not act like this was an artist confiding and trusting in close friends. This “private note” was reviewed by publicists and managers before being published onto a website where thousands of people pay a yearly membership to say they are fans.
Marketing teams know that fans will rally around the artist and come to their defense to defuse bad pr. The letter was designed to make fans feel like they are privy to the personal life. It makes them feel special, feel like they are a part of something. Mind you, this is also an artist who is currently selling meet and greet packages to her upcoming tour for $800, which seems pretty opportunistic to me. The fandom evokes a sense of “this was a private letter to us and now the media is manipulating it into headlines.”
Please, they knew what they were doing and have had all the plays planned far in advance.
September 19, 2018 @ 3:40 am
Never go full Trigger
September 19, 2018 @ 5:37 am
No, she would never use miscarriages to promote her album……..shame on you people for saying otherwise!
https://people.com/movies/jane-fonda-on-her-mothers-suicide-when-she-was-12/?utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&utm_medium=social&xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag&utm_source=twitter.com
September 19, 2018 @ 6:26 am
Jeezus, Trigger is right. Carrie not only oversings every song, she has resorted to a Kardashian model of oversharing and overdramatizing her life in order to remain relevant. I was tired of hearing about her face after the first week. It came of as really vain. My wife suffered miscarriages and we underwent five rounds of unsuccessful IVF. I get it, its difficult. I don’t know that my wife has shared it with anybody but close friends and family, because it is a personal situation. And, it not like sCarrie doesn’t already have kids. She seems as desperate as a Kardashian with no storyline. These fans are as irrational as Kane Brown fans.
September 19, 2018 @ 7:18 am
She doesn’t oversing every song & she has the awards to prove it,jerk!!So you’re shaming her now too?She isn’t allowed to share her story & you’re shaming her for it too?She wasn’t overdramatizing her life,you insensitive jerk,it was the media who kept doing that after her accident!!She is the least dramatic person out there & for you to accuse her of being otherwise is unfair & uncalled for!!She wasn’t the one making a big deal out of her face,it was the media,you pathetic excuse for a human!!If your face was how you sold music,then I could see why she would be so self conscious about it,but vain,that is so nasty,rude & uncalled for it isn’t funny!!And she has ONE kid,not two,but nice try trying to deflect from Carrie being so personal with her life!!She doesn’t need to do anything to stay relevant,she’s more relevant than you’ll ever be!!How dare you accuse her of being vain,selfish & less than honest!!You have ZERO right to slander her reputation like that,zero!!Your sympathy isn’t sympathy,it’s an obvious attempt to discredit someone who doesn’t have to do stupid things to stay relevant!!She isn’t desperate for any storyline,but her marketing team is!!She doesn’t have to resort to desperate tactics to keep her name in the news!!You’re a jerk & an obvious troll!!You’re pathetic!!
September 19, 2018 @ 7:22 am
If you put your shit in the press, don’t be surprised when everybody doesn’t agree with it. If her face is what sells her music, she should just go do something else.
September 19, 2018 @ 6:31 am
The oversinging Kardashian.
September 19, 2018 @ 7:26 am
Oh,shut up!!None of the Kardashians have any singing talent to speak of & she is 10 times more beautiful than any of them put together!!She doesn’t oversing either,moron!!If you think she oversings,then why has she sold over 64 million records & won 7 Grammys which I highly doubt that even the Kardashians know what a Grammy is!!You probably couldn’t sing your way out of a paper bag if you tried!!
September 19, 2018 @ 7:34 am
Same dumb shit Kane Brown fans post.
September 19, 2018 @ 10:40 am
Ass-clown Justin Bieber has sold millions of records too….And your point?
September 19, 2018 @ 10:54 am
At this point in Carrie Underwood’s career, I wish someone would write a song and dedicate it to her. The title should be: ‘Jesus Take The Microphone’ …
September 19, 2018 @ 8:23 am
CU is oversinging & faking emotions on the majority of songs.
It’s called block-voting & yes…Carrie Underwood won a couple of awards but not necessary for her singing. She was part of the “right” block.
September 20, 2018 @ 11:42 am
Oversinging?Ha!They saw you coming!!Faking her emotions?That’s just low,so low.how can you say she’s faking her emotions when the songs she’s wrote were born out of her own pain?Are you really that much of an insensitive ass or have you always been that way!!She opened her hear by revealing her miscarriages and you have the literal nerve to say she’s faking her emotions?Sexist much?Unless you’ve ever had a miscarriage or been a woman,you have no right to criticize her no matter how much you may hate her music!!What an insensitive ass you are!!Jerk!!
September 19, 2018 @ 8:45 am
She was in Germany last week to promote the album…101 interviews with tv & radio stations. She didn’t mention her past problems (well…not in the interviews i saw).
CU is unknown in Germany & the marked is dominated by local female (schlager & pop) stars like Helene Fischer, Andrea Berg, Nena, Michelle or younger acts like Vanessa Mai, Kerstin Ott or hard-rock queen Doro Pesch.
September 19, 2018 @ 8:59 am
This is such a horrible article! As a man, you really have no basis for an opinion on whether or not a woman should reveal her own personal tragedies regarding miscarriage. She’s a superstar, and she’s going to do interviews, especially for an album release. Is she not supposed to discuss what’s going on in her personal life? If she wants to, she can! I mean, do you expect her to not do an interview around the release of her album, tour dates, early promotion? And during those interviews what exactly is she supposed to talk about? Of course she talks about the album, but considering the album is called “Cry Pretty” I think its very fair for her to discuss things that went on in her life to influence the album. People will always find something to criticize, but this is a very unfair and insensitive article.
September 19, 2018 @ 9:58 am
This article is not about Carrie Underwood’s right to speak about her miscarriages. It’s about the need for women to share elements of their personal lives for the media to pay attention to them due to a lack of radio support, and crossing the line between personal information and promotion. Also, the miscarriage element was just mentioned in passing. This has more to do with the incessant “face reveals” and the entire picture of Carrie’s album rollout.
September 19, 2018 @ 10:39 am
It’s kind of ironic to say the miscarriage was mentioned in passing. Considering the timing of this article, it seems the miscarriage was the catalyst to write it. I say its ironic with the timing, since Carrie is being criticized for timing the news of her tragedies around her album release. I mean, Carrie is a pretty boring girl otherwise. She’s talked about the album extensively, her 9 co-writes, inspiration for her songs like the Bullet (it being unreleased until the right time, I mean is that opportunistic, too?) and Love Wins. I wasn’t aware of the press releases surrounding the reveal of her face at the ACMs. That’s a bit much, I will agree with that! I mean, at some point she was going to mention her miscarriages. I don’t think mentioning it around album release is necessary opportunistic. Neither is the baby reveal, as if she planned for those things to coincide. I still wouldn’t consider it opportunistic by her or her label. The face reveal, perhaps, everything else, no, with all due respect. The timing of this article being around the miscarriage news probably wasn’t the best.
September 19, 2018 @ 10:45 am
I’m a little confused – is it a bad thing for women to share their story as part of promotion for their music career? In the article you posted right after this one, you repeatedly mention Jaime Wyatt’s past. Why is it acceptable to use her past as a felon to promote her, but it’s not ok for Carrie Underwood to talk about her experiences with miscarriages and her face injury? Women in country music throughout the years (and of all levels of celebrity) have shared personal details about their lives, from Margo Price & Miranda Lambert to Tammy & Loretta – it comes through in interviews, their songs, and in press. It further establishes emotional connections from the fans to the celebrity beyond the music. I find it unfair to tear one woman down while boosting the other, when both women have shared their personal stories as part of their media identity. One story has no less value than the other.
September 19, 2018 @ 11:11 am
“I’m a little confused – is it a bad thing for women to share their story as part of promotion for their music career?”
No, it is strongly encouraged. Women sharing their personal stories is imperative to them being able to create emotional connections with their audience. The idea that this article was somehow an attack on women sharing their personal stories, or that it was a rebuke of Carrie Underwood sharing the information on her miscarriages is completely unfounded, and mostly based off of people reading this article through the filter of mischaracterizations on social media.
Instead what this article is about is how the Carrie Underwood camp was resigned to having to reveal personal information through the press to get her name in headlines in lieu of the support of radio and other media. As the articles states,
“You almost can’t blame Carrie Underwood and her team for choosing this route. With mainstream country radio offering little support to women, often they have to resort to other avenues of promotion to connect with an audience. And since country music media has devolved into nothing more than celebrity gossip mining and lifestyle reporting with the occasional foray into political rancor exploitation, riding Carrie Underwood’s personal tragedies for public attention is probably not a bad promotional strategy.”
Also, to underscore this importance of personal narrative in music, please note that on July 10th, I posted an article titled, “Restrictions on Language Eroding Women’s Ability to Craft Narrative in Music”
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/restrictions-on-language-eroding-womens-ability-to-craft-narrative-in-music/
In this article, I went into great detail about how lashing out at the media for mentioning how some performers are mothers, daughter, wives, or women at all under misguided accusations of sexism was creating an environment where the media was becoming discouraged to write about women at all, or to avoid personal details that may help those artists connect with an audience.
All that said, you can go too far in pushing personal information to try and promote your music. When Carrie Underwood announced she was pregnant at the same exact time she released tour dates 6 months ahead of the norm, this clearly exposed that her camp was looking to exploit celebrity gossip to push her music. Again, I don’t blame them due to the current environment in music. But it doesn’t make it right, and it could set a bad precedent where women are forced to reveal details of their personal lives simply to get the media to pay attention.
I hope this makes sense.
September 19, 2018 @ 11:26 am
I don’t think that at all. I think it clearly explained why the tour was being delayed. Normally they have two legs of the tour (typically a spring leg and fall leg). They announce the legs separately, with the later announcement being “the tour will be extended.” Now they definitely wanted the bundles from the concert tickets to count as album sales. But with the start of the tour being pushed back from January to May, it looks kind of crazy to bundle eight months in advance. So they had to give the reason why that was happening. Now the second leg is going to start at its normal scheduled time, it’s just going to start without a summer break after the first leg. So instead of having to announce this in two different legs “the tour will be extended,” it’s now just one continuous tour all squished together. The reason why they were doing that had to be revealed, otherwise it would be way out of the ordinary to sell a ticket to a show 14 months in advance.
September 19, 2018 @ 6:18 pm
I agree Alex. The baby announcement was clearly an explanation for the tour starting in mid-2019. It was revealed on her Facebook page I believe (which is for her fans) and she clearly started showing soon after the announcement. With all due respect to the author, I think that point (the baby announcement) is a bit intellectually dishonest, but it fits the narrative of the article in following the pattern of her using personal details for promotion. I mean, I think the face reveal is the strongest and fair point. That was pushed and exploited by her team a bit much.
September 19, 2018 @ 9:10 pm
The release of Carrie Underwood’s tour dates to coincide with her pregnancy announcement was total marketing. You can like an artist, believe in them, and still understand that as a major mainstream performer, marketing is at the heart of most every decision that is made.
September 20, 2018 @ 12:00 pm
“Celebrity gossip” is when the tabloid magazines put on the cover page that an a singer is pregnant when she actually isn’t.
If you actually are pregnant, it’s what you are. It’s not “celebrity gossip.”
The tour always starts shortly after an artist releases the new album. This tour is starting eight months after the album release because of the pregnancy. The pregnancy is the reason for the tour delay, and that’s why they did it that way, to announce why the tour would be starting so later than normal.
Do you honestly believe that people are going to hear the news and think, “ooh, she’s pregnant, guess I should go buy concert tickets now!”
I’ve never done that. None of my friends have ever done that. If anything, it would make me want to buy concert tickets less since I know the tour will be delayed until she has the baby and takes time off for the baby, it will likely be quite awhile until I can see her in concert.
September 19, 2018 @ 9:16 am
I heard her next single is going to be called #metoo
September 19, 2018 @ 6:17 pm
I agree Alex. The baby announcement was clearly an explanation for the tour starting in mid-2019. It was revealed on her Facebook page I believe (which is for her fans) and she clearly started showing soon after the announcement. With all due respect to the author, I think that point (the baby announcement) is a bit intellectually dishonest, but it fits the narrative of the article in following the pattern of her using personal details for promotion. I mean, I think the face reveal is the strongest and fair point. That was pushed and exploited by her team a bit much.
September 19, 2018 @ 9:20 am
I didn’t know that we are talking about Miranda Lambert here.
September 19, 2018 @ 10:35 am
Publicity. Everything is about publicity whether it be good or bad and “artists” exploit that to the nth degree to further their career. Did Hank Jr. exploit his 1975 accident when he fell off a mountain and almost died? No, other making a slight reference to it in his song “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” he never went full drama queen over it. I’m sorry Mrs. Carrie ” I support everything LGBTQ” Underwood had an accident, but people don’t want to hear it ranted about incessantly no more than we want to hear someone talking 24/7 about their sexual preference and the so-called B.S. “intolerance” everyone on the planet has toward them. It’s all about publicity and milking it for everything it’s worth..
September 19, 2018 @ 10:57 am
Does the Carrie promo team use bots? That’s my only explanation for the comments on this article. Criticism of Carrie Underwood?!?! REEEEEE!!!!!!!!
September 19, 2018 @ 11:15 am
I respectfully disagree with Trigger. I’m reminded of what Conan O’Brien said on his final Tonight Show broadcast. Even though it didn’t work out for him, he said don’t be cynical. The same applies here. Carrie was already going to debut at #1 anyway, far and away outpacing the #2 selling album by more than double. The news over the weekend may move a couple of thousand extra copies, but it hardly makes a big difference in total album sales. And if the marketing team really wanted to use this news to move numbers, they would’ve did while the Cry Pretty single was only peaking at #9 on the airplay charts. Had this news gotten out during the run, it would’ve pushed the single a good bit higher on the charts. Consider the possibility that Carrie really was being sincere and it was a moment where she decided she was finally comfortable about opening up a little more. Don’t be cynical.
September 19, 2018 @ 2:24 pm
This article is trash.
September 19, 2018 @ 9:44 pm
I would like to add the 1,000th comment that nobody will read.
A few years ago I heard a BBC interview with Robert Plant. The interviewer said, “Zeppelin had its successes, but there was also tragedy,” hinting he wanted Plant to talk about his son’s death. Plant said, “Yes, it was tragic — and I’m not sharing that with anyone!” I loved the guy even more.
Exploiting miscarriages to push a pop country album is really low.I think Carrie is like an Elvis, just going along, feeling lucky to have gotten a big break, but she should’ve stood up to Col. Tom on this one.
September 20, 2018 @ 5:01 am
I do not understand “jumping” on Carrie Underwood for taking control of her press narrative, when Dolly Parton long ago taught these youngsters exactly how to play this music business “game”.
During the years when Dolly’s career was at its peak – 1977 to 1997 – she was consistently saying sexually charged, outrageous things to the press and she shared her own deeply personal stories in public, just as she plugged her latest projects and releases. The effort served to insure that Dolly’s beautiful image graced the cover of various national magazines on a nearly weekly basis and helped created a “buzz” around her mostly worthy wears.
Just one of a thousand examples of Dolly’s smart press tactic was her sexually revealing Playboy interview in 1977, in which was famous for her admitting, “…well, if I ever had a cherry, it got shoved so far back, I was using it for a taillight,” in reference to her various attempts at losing her virginity. The story quickly became front-page-news, mostly because a female country artist had never discussed such-a-subject, let alone to admit premarital sexual relationships in the press and even though some old-guard-country-folk were simply scandalized, the uproar certainly helped Dolly’s first pop releases sell over a million copies, being that she and her music were now “cool” to a larger, different audience, who related to her free admissions of youthful lust.
During the 1980’s and into the 1990’s, only stories about Madonna and Princess Diana were featured more than Dolly in the supermarket rag mags and these publications still continue to feature stories about Dolly’s supposed tragedies & triumphs.
Not one to miss golden opportunities, Dolly’s public response was to gleefully tag herself, “The Queen of the Tabloids” and she simply continued to laugh – all the way to the bank.
Another example of Dolly’s cozy press relationship (and closer to Carrie’s current press coverage) was her own tearful admission to “Ladies Home Journal” of serious “female troubles” that had caused her to become unable to have children, adding that the deep depression she suffered around the issue had caused her to consider taking her own life.
The story buzzed through much of the mid 1980’s and seemingly kept the general public firmly on her side and supportive, despite the major and various flops and setbacks she encountered during these years and the subsequent goodwill helped Dolly to find her footing again, with major successes in restarting in 1989 and beyond, on the road toward becoming a show business icon.
In a more thoughtful, almost humble moment, Dolly quietly admitted to Oprah in early 1992 that she had long ago and purposely decided to “use the press”, instead of allowing them to “use her” and calmly explained that she felt the effort to control her press coverage had been very successful, adding that even the most smarmy articles helped keep her “hot” during downtime and periods after a “flop project”.
Dolly is fond of joking “There is no such thing, as bad publicity” – which is a lesson that Carrie Underwood seems to now understand and accept – “Cry Pretty” is set to top the charts.
No, Dolly isn’t the first artist to figure out how to manipulate the press, but she’s probably the best example of the artist who made the most of the idea. She’s continues strong, a pure heart, a brilliant mind and a money machine. Her current personal net worth is over $500 million dollars and she’s about to receive yet another honor from the Grammy organization for her artistry, industry and humanity. She’s beloved by millions and considered a national treasure – a “Bob Hope” with boobs – you might say.
Carrie Underwood has much of the same, that good heart and eager mind of a Dolly Parton and perhaps it’s only now, that she’s learning how to control the narrative, toward her own path to continued success.
September 20, 2018 @ 10:28 am
The Oak Ridge boys just slammed Trigger and this site on their twitter…. Lol. Team Carrie
September 20, 2018 @ 10:41 am
First dummy, The Oak Ridge Boys didn’t “just” do anything. Two days ago, they followed me on Twitter, and responded to a commenter saying they thought Carrie Underwood’s new album was a “masterpiece,” which tells you all you need to know about whose thumbs are behind the tweet. Also, they did not reference myself or this website by name, let alone “slam” anything. It’s extremely speculative if anyone tied to the Oak Ridge Boys public relations team even read the article. But keep hyperventilating.
September 20, 2018 @ 1:39 pm
Whatever makes you sleep at night. But they responded to a tweet – referencing to your article. They called the article “absurd and thoughtless”. Basically slamming it. I don’t know how you can spin that bro.
September 20, 2018 @ 12:18 pm
Trigger, at this point your arguing with a bunch of artist obsessed 15 year olds! They are so wrapped up in Carrie’s existance that any negative word spoken about her is met with immediate irrational anger. They are probably running around with rediculous fake glitter as we speak! BTW the whole glitter thing with this whole album cycle is so bizarre from a 35 year old artist?!
September 20, 2018 @ 1:48 pm
Trigger,
Denouncing any criticism in this article as mischaracterization or fans who will always just defend Carrie is pretty damn disingenuous. Just because you may have meant something different doesn’t invalidate the criticism or make it wrong. I don’t agree with the comments calling you sexist, and I absolutely acknowledge you have been much more positive about Carrie throughout the career than most of your readers, but there are legitimate reasons to be upset with how you presented this article.
Immediately after talking about her miscarriages, you say: “But at this point, utilizing Carrie Underwood’s personal matters to promote her music has become ridiculous and incredibly transparent…Revealing three miscarriages is probably something more fit for a late career biography as opposed to a way to bolster album sales…it’s fair to question if it’s any of our business how many miscarriages Carrie Underwood has experienced…the whole stretegy just smacks of desperation.”
You can’t honestly be surprised people are upset about the way you presented this? You essentially said there is an appropriate time for the woman to reveal painful information, or to even not reveal it at all. A lot of us just don’t believe anyone at all should be telling someone when they can talk about this. You lumped talking about miscarriages into a desperate strategy designed to bolster album sales. This is absolutely problematic for some of us, even if you don’t agree, and it’s why people focused on the miscarriages and not the premise of the underlying issue. It’s not a mischaracterization of your article; it’s focusing on one part of it.
Now, if your article only focused on her team taking control of the fall narrative and announcing the baby at the same time as the tour, so be it, even if I think the criticism about the baby announcement is super nitpicky. Of course it’s about pr; they wanted to do a tour bundle, so they had to explain why the start is 6+ months away. Seems like a super minor thing to be worried about.
Your premise is also that Carrie Underwood needed to make all these personal revelations in order to get media attention. Radio is one thing, and if they really wanted to use her personal life to gain radio support, she would have talked about “Cry Pretty” actually stemming from the miscarriages while it was floundering from the start and becoming her worst performing single in 13 years. On the general media side of it, Carrie gets more media attention than any other country artist. The woman can’t post a picture of her son’s toy without every major network bringing it up. She’s about the only country artist that can get on every major talk show, which also leads to the same topics coming up longer than someone like Jason Isbell. She’s already a media darling; revealing deeply personal and upsetting information doesn’t much more attention than she already gets, it just changes what they’re talking about. She didn’t need to reveal anything for her name to be in the media or sell her records, she had already sold more than just about everyone in country music in the last few years.
Sorry for the length, probably should have just sent this to you privately. I’ve just never been truly frustrated by an article of yours and your responses until now. I would’ve been much more interested in the discussion had you used her fall/baby/tour announcement in conjunction with other female artists’ us of personal lives.
September 20, 2018 @ 2:04 pm
I love this reply. Of course Trigger won’t reply to it because you made really good points that would make him have to actually think about his article and see that it didn’t come across the way he thinks it did. Instead he will just cry about being misunderstood and that nobody is reading the article correctly all while he is being a giant hypocrite for using Carrie’s personal life/tragedies with a clickbait article title to get views on his site.
September 20, 2018 @ 2:34 pm
Actually I think quite a few understand the premise of the article, and most others that don’t are swept up in the celebrity of Carrie Underwood. That said, I think Rachel makes fine counterpoints to my article, and I’m happy to host them here.
Also I hate to disappoint folks, but this article really didn’t receive that much traffic. If this article was clickbait itself, the joke is on me.
September 20, 2018 @ 2:06 pm
He is “mansplaining” his way out of the situation…. A even just tweeted a “mansplaination” of the situation.
September 21, 2018 @ 2:44 am
This reply beautifully unearthed in detail what I meant in my long reply with “between the lines” thinking, Rachel your points are spot on. Your paragraph below is exactly why folks are upset. No one, literally no one, gets to criticize or dictate to a woman on the topics he wrote about — simple as that. There are things you just don’t talk about.
“You can’t honestly be surprised people are upset about the way you presented this? You essentially said there is an appropriate time for the woman to reveal painful information, or to even not reveal it at all. A lot of us just don’t believe anyone at all should be telling someone when they can talk about this. You lumped talking about miscarriages into a desperate strategy designed to bolster album sales. This is absolutely problematic for some of us, even if you don’t agree, and it’s why people focused on the miscarriages and not the premise of the underlying issue. It’s not a mischaracterization of your article; it’s focusing on one part of it.”
September 20, 2018 @ 4:53 pm
I thought the subject matter in this article a little awkward to read about, but think it was okay, fair points to make. Anyone calling Trigger a sexist should spend more time on this Site, you would see that is a completely false statement.
Music Jedi—I liked other comments also. but yours was so short, to the point, it stood out,
very well-said!
Miranda and Taylor were mentioned earlier. The big difference, Carrie has not written about personal life, maybe a trace, in songs. Also isn’t known to say much personal info in interviews. (I have noticed she has, but for a publication, not as camera on). Telling this personal info if her choice is okay, but to a major network in an interview the days around the Album release, seems strange. I figured the Record Label controls the Artist re: contract but never thought they controlled what they said. It seems no one is clear on here if this was her choice or was pressured into it. It doesn’t fit with her style, up til now is what makes it stand out to people.
Sorry to forget who mentioned this, but glad someone did. This gal has some of the meanest, most annoying fans I’ve seen online these years. To them, she is perfect, her music is perfect, she should win every award possible. I can’t help but wonder if to them, she really IS an Idol. (sick). She won that show in the years it was most popular, with the fanfare, excitement that went with it. Kelly Clarkson went to the vast ‘Pop’ world, which makes a difference–not the structured genre that ‘Country’ music is. The 1D, 5-SOS bands trending at the moment always eclipse other fan bases, (even T.Swift). So she never stood out the same. Just a shame for the rest of us, who do like Carrie’s voice a lot, and her, but don’t look at her like she’s something she is not.
They are the fans, ‘a voting bloc’ of sorts, who I think consider it their job to get her to win any award when nominated. I stopped watching the smaller ‘Country’ award shows some years back, but rem when she was nominated I think she always won. Very unfair to the other Country artists who didn’t have a chance against that.
Whichever ‘side’ someone is on with this, it’s fair to say how Carrie, and or media, Record Label has handled things has resulted in a lot of neg. toward her on social media and a lot of neg.talk about her now. I cons. Taylor Swift one of the smartest people in Music today. She knew there was a lot of neg. toward her last year, and she did the best thing for it–pretty much disappeared for over a year. Now her image seems positive again. Carrie should do this. I think it would be beneficial at this point.
September 20, 2018 @ 11:20 pm
The entire modus operandi of Stan armies is to create the facade of more support for their artist than there actually is. When you have thousands of Twitter accounts with the avatars solely of the artist, and these accounts solely post about the artist alone, you have no idea how many of these accounts are real, or who is behind them. One person could be running 100 accounts, or more. I’ve already verified via IP addresses that multiple individuals in this comments section are using multiple aliases. We’ve seen this same action in articles covering Beyonce, Miranda Lambert, and Blake Shelton. This is what Stan armies do. They disrupt and deceive in an obsequious worship of a superstar. Who knows what the real public sentiment is about this article. There’s also a lot of agreement with the article in this comments section that some seem to want to overlook. At least I have a comment section and keep it open for anyone to post in. Some are exploiting that opportunity.
Meanwhile joining the fracas are politically biased blue checkmarked Twitter journalists who are on record saying they want to destroy Saving Country Music. Even though they lashed out at me for being sexist for merely mentioning that Ashley Monroe was a mother a few months ago, they’re perfectly fine turning into lying hypocrites to defending Carrie Underwood’s team for making the primary focus of Carrie Underwood’s record rollout her motherhood. To these journalists, we’re not even supposed to mention gender, let alone refer to an artist as a mother, daughter, wife, or attribute any of their success, fame, or support to men, or it’s an act of misogyny, and this is well-documented. Yet in this case they’re perfectly willing to pile on, hoping this will be the nail in the Saving Country Music coffin, which it’s not even coming close to be.
Exacerbating the problem is people interacting with this article via the filter of Twitter. They don’t know who I am. Many didn’t even read the article. The first thing they see on Twitter is someone saying how I shamed Carrie Underwood for revealing her miscarriages (which never happened), and then they come here or take to Twitter to let all their rage out against the patriarchy, completely ill-informed about the premise and substance of this article.
Saving Country Music assumes an intelligent audience, and often works in long form content, relying on nuance and discussion to make points. In this reactionary society, that is unacceptable.
Could I have written this article better, been more tactful in getting my point across? I could say this about every article I’ve ever written. I certainly never claimed to be perfect. But I have re-read this article a dozen times over the past few days, and haven’t felt the need to tweak anything.
Carrie Underwood’s team is exploiting details of her personal life to help promote her record, and everybody knows it. Even the Stans know it. That is why they’re reacting so angrily to this. The idea has to be crushed, and the source of that opinion discredited lest people actually start to believe it. I also presented credible reasons why Carrie Underwood’s team chose this approach, and don’t even blame them for it.
These days, the most controversial thing you can do is tell the truth, or give an honest opinion. Someone has to be willing to take the bullets. I don’t like the unpleasantness, but I’m unwilling to shy from any task. Because ultimately the way Carrie Underwood’s record is being rolled out sets a bad precedent for women in country music.
September 20, 2018 @ 11:47 pm
Sorry, this was in response to a comment whose author asked me to take their comment down after I had written all this out.
September 21, 2018 @ 2:24 am
I guess this is sort of an apology…Well a “Trigger” type apology..
I’ll take it and hope others do to. Time to move on to greener pasture topics.
People make mistakes and some people misinterpret things… The fact that Trigger has reread the article numerous times makes me realize he has a heart and his intentions weren’t bad. I’m sure he knew the article would get a lot of attention though.
This site has always been about the music , nothing else. I think we should leave personal celeb stories out of it from now on guys.
September 21, 2018 @ 2:17 am
There is so much wrong with this article and how you’ve responded further in the comments Trigger that I don’t even know where to start. This is the biggest piece of garbage you have ever written in the history of this site, and frankly your half-assed attempt to respond to the backlash is ridiculous and embarrassing for the caliber of the site you purport to run. You claim commenters don’t read… well let me say I have read every word. How do I know you deep down know what you wrote is wrong? The evidence is right here in these comments… you have done nothing but double-talk and dig the hole deeper with more nonsense talking yourself in circles. In fact you’ve re-read the article and still don’t see why what you’ve written is wrong, how can you not see? You can’t see because you have never experienced and will never come remotely close to going through what Carrie has in her personal life. You have zero place to call into question what she has done with her personal tragedies, that’s her story to tell however she damn well pleases to. She has chosen to tell them through her music, what a great artist does. Reba said it best when she said “Singing sad songs often has a way of healing a situation. It gets the hurt out in the open into the light, out of the darkness” — she is 100% correct, you have no idea the darkness Carrie has encountered by losing three babies. She is sharing one of the most personal and intimate details a woman can ever share.
You have certainly not being paying attention to who the woman she is at her core if you think this article is okay in any way shape or form. We all know Carrie is a private person and seldom shares her home life — take one look at pictures of her son, you will be hard pressed to find any of his face — why? — because there are crazy people out there who would wish harm on her family. So how on earth can you purport to say she (or her team) would ever exploit her personal details? You claim to not blame Carrie, only her team. Umm, who runs her team? Who is in charge ultimately? Her, she is. And especially in this type of scenario, there is zero chance she purposely shared her story to garner attention or had her team do it. She needs no extra attention, she is literally regarded as a generational voice, she needs no tabloid fluff. Celebrities have a platform, some use it wrong and some use it right, Carrie uses it right. She understands she has the power of celebrity to tell a story that can help others who have gone through what she has. She gets it, many celebrities don’t.
You full well know what you wrote is loaded with “between the lines” thinking, and your futile attempts to cover that up in the comments is embarrassing at best. You think you can get by by saying I didn’t meant it this way or that way, while we all know what you’re really saying, it doesn’t take a scientist to see it. I hope you watched the interview with CBS Sunday Morning, and if you haven’t you need to. How anyone can watch that and come away with anything other than empathy for her is nonsense. Your insinuation that her face accident has anything to do with her wanting to exploit it is laughable — there is no one to blame except for the media itself. How can you begin to think that Carrie could be so out of touch and evil to think up this ruse just for some extra articles. It makes no sense and holds no water at all, again you haven’t been paying attention to who the woman is. I know it’s hard to believe that there could be a real person who becomes famous and remain a good person… but in Carrie Underwood that’s what you have. There is no faking that type of thing. For example, her and Reba both, you’re either a good person or you’re not. Another reason this has upset people is that in country music (and you’ve said this before), we are fans of the music yes but we are also fans of the person and I think more in this genre than any other. You need to seriously consider a retraction and apology for what you pass off as “criticism”. You’ve lost a long time fan/reader in me that’s for sure, and not just because I’m a Carrie fan, but because you’ve insulted yourself and your readers.
September 21, 2018 @ 2:26 am
And one thing I forgot, your statement saying her “…loyal fanbase are beginning to become fatigued by all of the tragic Carrie Underwood news..” could not be further from the truth, rather the exact opposite actually. What we are is sad and feel empathy for a wonderful woman and artist who has gone through a difficult time. It’s called empathy, not fatigue. Look up the word, you could use a dose.
September 21, 2018 @ 5:01 am
Private person? She has posted about her husband dozens of times on social media. She just paraded her husband and SON at the HWOF ceremony that would be covered by every media outlet in the country. She is private to a point as are all celebrities. Private until they have to sell something movie, product etc. All of these reveals were to sell something you know it and we know it. It should have stopped at the face reveal that was enough.
September 21, 2018 @ 7:58 am
Actually it was numerous Carrie Underwood fans reaching out to me about the circus of this album release that was one of the primary stimulants to writing this article. These same fans have also piped up in this very comments section, and in the comments sections of other Carrie Underwood articles posted recently. Carrie Underwood overplaying her hand with personal news was a primary narrative heading into the album release, and I can cite dozens of examples. Unfortunately some of these people have been shamed into silence by fear of social media retribution. The only difference is I don’t give a shit. Folks know what I said was the truth. That’s why it hurt so much. But I wasn’t attempting to convey pain. I was sharing wisdom.
September 21, 2018 @ 2:33 pm
The problem is you’re too closed minded to consider the possibility that you might be wrong. Your narrow-minded viewpoint “what I said was the truth” is a bad journalistic position to take.
September 21, 2018 @ 8:13 am
1) Never said all commenters didn’t read the article. I responded to a comment by someone who said they were surprised how much support Carrie Underwood was receiving here and on Twitter, and wanted to set a context about the behavior of some Carrie Underwood fans/Stans.
2) Never said Carrie Underwood was evil. I went out of my way to not blame Carrie Underwood for anything here. That’s how I know folks aren’t reading the article.
3) If I have it so out for Carrie Underwood, contemplate some of this recent press for Carrie from Saving Country Music:
Why I Couldn’t Be Happier Carrie Underwood Has A New Single On The Way
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/why-i-couldnt-be-happier-carrie-underwood-has-a-new-single-on-the-way/
Regardless of Injury or Image, Country Music Needs Carrie Underwood Right Now
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/regardless-of-injury-or-image-country-music-needs-carrie-underwood-right-now/
Why Carrie Underwood’s Producer Credits for “Cry Pretty” Are Critically Important
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/why-carrie-underwoods-producer-credits-for-cry-pretty-are-critically-important/
Song Review – Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” (Reviewed Very positively 8 out of 10)
https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/song-review-carrie-underwoods-cry-pretty/
The simple fact is the Carrie Underwood fan base has allowed a completely irrational, and frankly unhealthy mindset to permeate throughout its ranks, causing some to be incapable of pondering reality. This has been known and documented for over a decade now, and has even creeped into the ranks of media members. I stand behind treating Carrie Underwood with fairness, and honesty.
September 25, 2018 @ 2:13 pm
When you say, “I don’t have it in for Carrie, I’ve written positive things about her in the past” it’s akin to saying, “I’m not racist, I have many black friends.”
And the problem with writing this piece is that now when you go to review Carrie’s new album, if you give it a good review, then people are going to say “well you’re just making up for what you did to Carrie in this piece” And if you give a bad review, then people are just going to say, “It just shows that you continue to have a bias against Carrie.”
So that’s the risk you took when you dove into writing this piece, but you said you knew that going in, so you made your bed and now you have to sleep in it.
September 25, 2018 @ 4:26 pm
Carrie Underwood’s team exploited her personal tragedies to help sell records. I understand how that statement could anger some, and be controversial. But that’s my opinion. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think Carrie Underwood has the right to speak about her miscarriages. Of course she does. That doesn’t even mean I think the Carrie Underwood team is wrong. But it is my professional opinion as someone who has covered the music business for over a decade that using personal information was the strategy employed to sell as many records as possible. How this opinion is perceived by the public is none of my business. My business is honesty. I’m not running a popularity contest. It’s my job to not worry about how my opinions are perceived by the public, but to share them honestly. I would never write something to set something else to try and get in the good graces of a certain fan base. Not only would that run the risk of coming across as transparent, it would also be dishonest. I’ve shared all of my opinions about Carrie Underwood because I believed them. How Carrie Underwood’s fans feel about them is inconsequential.
September 27, 2018 @ 1:11 pm
Well at least you changed your position from “what I said was the truth” to “that’s my opinion” … “it is my professional opinion” so I’ll give you credit for that.
September 21, 2018 @ 2:30 pm
I think Saving Country Music is going too far in exploiting a non-Carrie story for personal clicks.
September 21, 2018 @ 6:28 pm
I’m not sure if this was covered on here, but it seems the ‘problem’ with at least some people against the article is that it mentions issues of infertility, a very sensitive subject for many. I think if she had said other personal info, maybe there wouldn’t be this extreme reaction. Those of us not sensitive to this matter can more easily see the article mentions it only bec she did in the interview, it’s not focusing on it in any way, just how it’s relevant to this bigger issue. I think people upset can’t get passed it being infertility-issues mentioned here—saying she was wrong in any way about that, is wrong to them.
Beav–count me in then as a fan who is ‘fatigued’ by all this. I’m one (of many) on here (and elsewhere) who think Trigger is right to call attn. to this.
“No one, literally no one, gets to criticize or dictate to a woman on the topics he wrote about, simple as that”—-You have you reasons to think this way, but I cringe at it. How many men have to be super sensitive to not offend a woman when writing about them, what is off limits or wrong, as opposed to writing about men, then. I think this only creates more division, and then less women will get written about. That is not okay to me. This is a big issue in our society right now, and this is happening even today, according to some comments above. I think if anyone is respectful in their writing, even sensitive topics are okay when relevant to a music topic, like this is.
February 23, 2021 @ 10:39 pm
Unreal. I see her now promoting her new work out, work out gear. People are suffering with job loss and so much while she has the nerve to promote herself. Sorry, most Moms don’t have a Nanny to care for their kids while you have a private chef and personal trainer. Horrible timing, insensitive and disrespectful in these times. Unreal.
February 28, 2021 @ 12:11 am
Your so Right. She’s not even Country Music. Only boring Pop music
Stay out of Nashville. Go to New York.
October 24, 2021 @ 1:13 pm
I lost all respect for her after her “disfiguring” accident. Her social media posts saying “I may not look the same but I know that my true fans will still love me” (sometimes she’d include a pic of her eyes only), really making it seem serious. It was a minor injury, I can’t even see a scar. How should that make people with actual scars or disfigurements? She makes me sick.