Underwood explained the meaning behind the album's title and theme, saying:
You step onto this ride … See more

Underwood promoted the record through both a joint tour with Keith Urban, Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour, which ran from January to April 2008, while simultaneously embarking on her first solo headli… See more

"So Small" served as the lead single for the album. It was released in mid-August 2007, two months before the album's official release and debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs at number 20, making it the highest … See more

Carnival Ride received mostly positive reviews from music critics. On the music review aggregator Metacritic, it has received an average score of 72 out of 100 based on ten reviews indicating generally favorable r… See more

Carnival Ride became Underwood's first number-one album on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 527,000 copies in its first week of release. It achieved one of the biggest ever first-week sales by a female artist at that time. I… See more