Twelve years ago today, on Veterans Day 2014, Carrie Underwood stood on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and sang for the people who served.
It was The Concert for Valor, a free show shown live on HBO. Carrie’s own website called it “a first-of-its-kind concert to honor the courage and sacrifice of America’s veterans and their families.” A huge crowd filled the Mall that night.
Carrie had big news of her own at the time. She was expecting her first baby with her husband, Mike Fisher, the retired NHL hockey player. That night was about three and a half months before her son was born.
She sang three songs, including “Before He Cheats.” But the one that matters most for this story is her brand new single, “Something in the Water.” It had only come out on Sept 29, 2014. Near the end of the record, Carrie sings a bit of “Amazing Grace,” and that’s the part that made it perfect for a night like this one.
If you’ve never heard the song, the official video is the best place to start, because you can hear exactly how that “Amazing Grace” ending builds.
The official video for “Something in the Water”
That song went on to spend seven weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, and it won Carrie a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance.
On the Mall, she didn’t sing it alone. Standing behind her were the Singing Sergeants, the Air Force’s leading active-duty choir, all 23 of them. They joined her only on that one song.
One of the singers, Tech. Sgt. Mandi Harper, wrote about those two days for the U.S. Air Force Band. The group pre-recorded a safety track the day before. “After a mere two takes, we’ve got our track ready to roll,” she wrote. “Our contribution to her song is the text of ‘Amazing Grace.'”
Then came rehearsal on the night of Nov 10. Carrie did something Mandi made a point of writing down. “She shakes everyone’s hand and thanks us all for our service.”
The next day, the singers took their places “on center stage, right behind Ms. Underwood.” Mandi wrote that “it is a most glorious thing to witness more than 200,000 people joined together to honor our nation’s veterans.” Newspapers put the crowd closer to 100,000, but either way, it was a sea of people.
A fan saved the Concert for Valor performance of the song, so you can hear it the way the crowd on the Mall did.
Carrie sings “Something in the Water” at the Concert for Valor
After the show, Carrie went on Twitter to tell fans how it went. Her message started just the way you’d expect.
“Had such a great time tonight at the #ConcertForValor It was truly an honor! PS, I just met James Hetfield!! #LifeMade #HappyVeteransDay”
Yes, James Hetfield. He’s the lead singer of Metallica, the heavy metal band that played the same concert. So the sweet country star, with her first baby on the way, was over the moon about meeting a heavy metal rocker. Twitchy, which shared her tweet that night, called Hetfield “one of her idols.”
It isn’t as strange as it sounds. Years later Carrie told Audacy, “I grew up listening to everything. I do have an affinity for rock music and metal.” She added, “I love going to rock concerts because it feels like freedom to me.”
And the baby she was carrying that night? Her son Isaiah was born on Feb 27, 2015. He’s 11 now.