Global superstars Carrie Underwood and Ludacris reunited Thursday night (May 4th) at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to celebrate their hit collaboration “The Champion” earning its RIAA Double Platinum certification. The song, written by Underwood with Brett James, Chris DeStefano, and Christopher Bridges (aka Ludacris), and produced by Jim Jonsin, was initially used to open NBC’s Super Bowl LII and was incorporated into the network’s coverage of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. The event anthem quickly hit No. 1 in 10 countries including the U.S.
https://twitter.com/carrieunderwood/status/1654300879980306436
Underwood and Ludacris also released a poignant and powerful montage music video, directed by Jimmy Lynch, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the pair recording the song as well as historic moments and footage highlighting professional athletes and everyday champions. Fans then started sharing their own champion-inspired photos and videos across social media using #TheChampion.
Carrie, who is making her way up the country charts with “Hate My Heart,” recently announced her exclusive year-round SiriusXM channel, CARRIE’S COUNTRY, which will launch in June. The 8-time GRAMMY Award winner will also relaunch her hit REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency at Resorts World Las Vegas in June.
Audio / CARRIE UNDERWOOD EXPLAINS THE ROLE LUDACRIS PLAYS ON HER SONG, “THE CHAMPION.”
DownloadCarrie Underwood (Ludacris) OC: …a whole new level. 1:10
“Ludacris came into the picture when we were writing this song ‘The Champion,’ we left a space in it for a potential guest appearance, a potential feature. And we went ‘round and ‘round about who do we approach, who do we ask, and in my mind, the style of the song with somebody that had his own thing, had a kind of legend status. I wanted something big. I wanted an artist that matched the song, and Ludacris, everything about him just seemed to scream ‘Champion’ to me, and he was just so great. And so we sent him everything and he put his part on it, and when we got it back, I thought, ‘Holy Cow! This took it to a whole new level.’ So, I think he was just that piece of the puzzle that was missing, and from the second that I heard it, I was like that was exactly the perfect person to be a part of this. Like I could never imagine anybody else being a part of this, and he just, again, took it to another level.”
