Before He Cheats

"Before He Cheats"
Single by Carrie Underwood
from the album Some Hearts
ReleasedAugust 2006[a]
StudioFAME, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Genre
Length3:19
LabelArista Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mark Bright
Carrie Underwood singles chronology
"Don't Forget to Remember Me"
(2006) 		"Before He Cheats"
(2006) 		"Wasted"
(2007)
Music video
Before He Cheats on YouTube
Alternate cover

"Before He Cheats" is a song by American singer Carrie Underwood from her debut studio album, Some Hearts (2005). Written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear, it was released as the fourth single from the album. The song tells the story of a woman taking revenge on her unfaithful partner.

The song became an enormous crossover success, topping the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for five consecutive weeks, reaching the top five on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, and becoming a top ten hit on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Before He Cheats" reached number eight and achieved a longevity of 64 consecutive weeks on the chart, making it the eighth longest-charting single in the history of the Hot 100 chart. It also reached number four in Canada.

"Before He Cheats" became the first ever country song to sell over two million digitally and was once the best-selling country song of all time.[6] It had sold 4,483,000 digital downloads as of January 2020,[7] and was once the best-selling song by an American Idol contestant but is now the third best-selling (behind Phillip Phillips' "Home" and Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)").[8] It has also been certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA, Underwood's largest-selling single to date.[9] It was the sixth-bestselling song of 2007 in the US.

The song has received a number of accolades. At the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, Underwood won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the song's writers won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song.[10][11] It received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year as well. It was also named the 2007 Single of the Year by the Country Music Association Awards. It ranked on CMT's 40 Greatest Songs of the Decade at number 25, along with Underwood's other signature hit, "Jesus, Take the Wheel", which ranked number four.

  1. ^ Jessen, Wade (August 5, 2006). "Arista Holds Full House On Country List". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 31. p. 63. Retrieved September 13, 2022 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 33. August 19, 2006. p. 51. Retrieved September 13, 2022 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Mapes, Jillian; Tom, Hawking (November 19, 2014). "25 of Music's Most Misandrist Anthems". Flavorwire. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  4. ^ Freeman, Jon (August 27, 2020). "Amigo the Devil's Cover of Carrie Underwood's 'Before He Cheats' Is Haunted Folk Music". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  5. ^ "2007 ASCAP Country Music Awards". Ascap.com. October 15, 2007. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference billboard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference us sales was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Trust, Gary (January 28, 2014). "Ask Billboard: Disney's Biggest Billboard Hits". Ask Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  9. ^ "RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for singles by Carrie Underwood". Riaa.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  10. ^ Calvin Gilbert (February 11, 2008). "Vince Gill Wins Best Country Album Grammy". CMT News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2008.
  11. ^ "Carrie Underwood". Grammy.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).