Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” has been ranked among 100 Best Breakup Songs of All Time, adding another milestone to one of country music’s most recognizable revenge songs.
But before the track became one of Underwood’s signature hits, it was written with another country star in mind: Gretchen Wilson.
Parade placed “Before He Cheats” at No. 13 on the list of songs about heartbreak, anger and moving on after a breakup.
The song, written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear, appeared on Underwood’s 2005 debut album, Some Hearts. It was later released as a single and became a major crossover hit, reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for five straight weeks and No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song’s story is simple but intense. A woman believes her partner may be cheating on her and imagines getting even by destroying his customized truck. She keys the vehicle, carves her name into the leather seats, breaks the headlights with a Louisville Slugger baseball bat and slashes the tires.
Carrie Underwood performs “Before He Cheats” during 2007 CMT Music Awards – Show at The Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.Photo by Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic
That revenge story helped make “Before He Cheats” stand out from the softer heartbreak songs that often fill breakup playlists.
Tompkins and Kear did not originally write “Before He Cheats” for Underwood. According to Tompkins, Gretchen Wilson was preparing to record music for her second album at the time. He was looking for something edgy when he started writing the song.
“I never would’ve thought that Carrie Underwood would record it!” Tompkins said in a 2014 interview with The Boot about the song’s creation.
Tompkins recalled starting with the first verse after typing lyrics in his office. Kear later came over, heard what Tompkins had written and immediately came up with the chorus line, “Maybe next time, he’ll think before he cheats …”
The two writers said the song came together unusually fast. Tompkins said the writing process took about two hours, compared with their usual sessions that could take several hours across multiple meetings.
Kear also explained that the song was initially intended to have a humorous quality. He said they wanted to imagine how a woman might react after learning what was happening inside a bar where her partner was flirting with another woman.
“When Carrie got hold of it, she just did it so well and really made it her own,” Kear said.
He added, “We expected it would be a little more lighthearted … but when we heard it, we thought, wow, she really drove it home!”
That performance helped turn the song into a defining moment in Underwood’s early career.
Underwood has also spoken about the concerns surrounding “Before He Cheats” before it became a hit.
In comments shared in January, she recalled that there were questions about whether the song was too aggressive for the image she had built after winning American Idol.
“I remember even when we were talking about recording that song, it was kind of like, ‘Oh, is this too aggressive? Is this too…’” Underwood told People.
She explained that she had been seen as a “sweet farm girl” during her time on American Idol and remembered the discussion over whether the song was the right choice.
“Because I was like a sweet farm girl on [American Idol] — and I hope that’s who I still am — but it was almost, ‘Maybe we don’t do this song.’”
The hesitation did not last. Underwood and her team eventually moved forward with the track, and its success changed the course of her early career.
Speaking to Howard Stern, Underwood also recalled that she and her label team were nervous about the song because of its aggressive story.
“This one was one I feel like everybody was a little nervous about…Me [and] my label people,” she said, per Holler, explaining that they thought, “it was aggressive. It is an aggressive song. I just sang ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’, and now she’s getting violent!”
Despite those concerns, “Before He Cheats” became a massive hit.
The song spent 64 consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 8. It also became Underwood’s best-selling single and was certified 11× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 2025.
The track was also the first country song to sell more than two million digital copies. By January 2020, it had sold more than 4.5 million digital downloads in the United States.
At the 2008 Grammy Awards, Underwood won Best Female Country Vocal Performance, while Tompkins and Kear won Best Country Song. The song was also nominated for Song of the Year.
The music video added another chapter to its success. Directed by Roman White, it showed Underwood carrying a Louisville Slugger after destroying the cheating partner’s truck. The video later won three CMT Music Awards in 2007, including Video of the Year, making Underwood the first woman to win that category.
In 2024, Rolling Stone also placed “Before He Cheats” at No. 67 on its list of the 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.
While the song tells a story of revenge, Underwood has made clear that the actions in the lyrics are not a guide for real life.
“I wouldn’t recommend doing any property damage, though. I’m a ‘let it go, move on’ kind of person,” she previously said.
For a song that was first written with Gretchen Wilson in mind, “Before He Cheats” ultimately became one of Carrie Underwood’s defining hits.
Related: 1981 Pop Song, Written by Jackie DeShannon, Became a Career-Defining No. 1 Hit
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