Brad Paisley has praised Carrie Underwood for pursuing a career in country music after winning American Idol, insisting she could have been the "biggest pop star in the world".
Underwood shot to fame after winning the talent show in 2005 and she went on to top the country music charts and be inducted into the Tennessee music mecca the Grand Ole Opry.
Her Remind Me collaborator Paisley insists Underwood could have been a global pop star, but he's grateful she chose to record country music instead.
He tells CNN newsman Piers Morgan, "She can sing - and the beauty of it is, she could sing anything she wanted. She could be the biggest pop star in the world. But she chose to stay, you know, in our format, which is very flattering...
"You know how this goes. You win a big show, like one of those (talent shows), and they're skeptical, do you deserve this? Instantly, her first song, Jesus Take the Wheel, was a masterpiece. And she's just followed that up (in country)."