Carrie Underwood took the April/May 2012 cover of Vegas magazine, and this week she’s staring back at us from the front of Billboard’s April 21 issue. Looking striking in black with black lace gloves, Underwood is more intentionally disheveled than we usually see her, with her blonde locks blowing freely as the starlet holds them back. The cover story bears the title ‘Carrie Underwood Plays On.’

The cover is perfectly appropriate, since Underwood is preparing to drop her fourth studio album, ‘Blown Away‘ on May 1. The ‘Good Girl’ singer recently credited her fans for her booming country music career, which obviously just keeps on growing.

“It’s been really, really great to have that support from the beginning,” she says. “They made me. They put me where I am, literally, through their votes and through their support and through them buying the albums afterwards. And I know there have been so many that have really hung in there and really been there since the beginning.”

The live debut of Underwood’s latest single ‘Good Girl’ — from the new album — took place on the stage of the 2012 ACM Awards. In a backstage interview after the awards show, Underwood opened up about the title of her new record, saying, “The title’s actually a song that’s on the album. It’s really cool and dramatic, and I love that we could do something fierce with the cover and just kind of have that, I don’t know, that woman, sexy, strong thing going on.”

Anyone who sees the Billboard cover will no doubt agree that Underwood has all of the above — and more — going for her.

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