Carrie Underwood makes a splash during 'massive downpour.' But did she fall?
A little torrential downpour didn't stop Carrie Underwood from performing in South Carolina on Sunday.
The country music star, who headlined the Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach, ended the splashy show with a bang — and an apparent fall, if some social-media video is to be believed.
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According to footage obtained by TMZ, the drenched "Before He Cheats" singer wrapped the concert with her 2006 revenge anthem and, while making her way off the surely slippery stage, appeared to awkwardly dip into a hole while descending stairs at the back off the stage. Someone in the crowd can be heard saying "she fell" in the clip, although it's unclear if she actually did.
The "American Idol" winner appeared to address the extreme weather but didn't mention the apparent stumble in a Monday post on Instagram.
"Well, last night sure was fun! And though the ending was quite unexpected, it made for a night we’ll never forget! 🌧️💧☔️ Thanks for being awesome, #MyrtleBeach !!!" she wrote. Then, sharing a clip from the rain-battered finale, she added: "We won’t let a little rain stop us! We won’t let a massive downpour stop us, either! ... #SingingInTheRain"
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Underwood's loyal fans lauded the performance in the comments section of her posts.
"The fact that it ONLY RAINED FOR THE LAST SONG is so iconic," one follower wrote.
"Show must go on!! I hope the fall wasn’t too bad," wrote another.
"This lady is committed to her fans! No. Matter. What. And her band is amazing!" another commenter said.
"Core memory activated. An ending we’ll be talking about for awhile," wrote another follower.
It's unclear whether Underwood was injured during the exit. A spokesperson for the country superstar did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times' request for comment.
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The "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and "Blown Away" singer famously took a tumble onstage in 2013 when her high heel caught on the back of her long, flowy T-shirt. The move sent her plunging to the ground and bouncing on her backside — after which she addressed the incident on social media.
“Hey, remember that time in Corpus Christi when that girl busted her butt on stage?! Hilarious!,” she wrote at the time. “Oh wait, that was me! #5inchheels #klutz”
In January, the singer opened up about a November 2017 fall at home that wound up earning her 40-50 stitches above her lip — inside and outside of her mouth. Underwood said she missed a step and tripped while walking her dogs, broke her wrist and hurt her face. She later told fans she "might look a bit different," but assured them that she was "doing great" after the "hard fall" and having wrist surgery.
Some speculated that Underwood had undergone plastic surgery, resulting in scarring around her lip, but she shut that down in a 2018 Redbook interview, saying: "I'm on some magazine every other week for something crazy. It’s a little sad, because the truth is just as interesting."
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That same year, Underwood shared that she had contracted a virus that landed her in a German hospital and resulted in her canceling appearances in the U.K.
"Basically, I got a viral thing and [when] I woke up, I had vertigo and I could not stand up and it was crazy," she said on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” in 2018. "I ended up in [a] German hospital for three days."
"I don't cancel shows, I will drag myself on to the stage if I have the flu or whatever," said the singer, who was pregnant with her second child at the time.
Speculation about plastic surgery bubbled up again late last month when Underwood posed for a photo with rapper Ludacris in Las Vegas, where both recording artists are headlining residencies.
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In the comments on the snapshot, followers said they didn't recognize Underwood or criticized her for allegedly having "awful work done." One user said she "looks totally different… not just clothes, but facial features" and another wrote that she "really needs to hold off on the plastic surgeries."
Others, however, came to her defense.
"Hey...don't come on here if you're going to disrespect Queen Carrie..the woman with such a powerful voice that it can bring you to tears with ballads and get you to rock right out all in one night," read one of the top comments. "She is so versatile, it's unreal! Regarding her looks? She's🔥and that's all there is to it. If you've got nothing nice to say then don't say it at all. Isn't that? What your mama taught you?"
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
