“No Shade, Just Showstoppers”: Carrie Underwood & Katy Perry Set the Record Straight With Fiery Duet

If you Google Carrie Underwood this morning, you might see a swirl of headlines suggesting she threw subtle shade at fellow American Idol alum Katy Perry—all over a question about space travel. According to internet sleuths, Underwood’s response to whether she’d ever take a rocket to space wasn’t just personal preference—it was a thinly veiled dig at Perry’s trip with Blue Origin this past April. Some even suggested it was a jab at other high-profile women like Gayle King and Lauren Sánchez, who were part of that all-female flight crew.

But here’s the thing: the supposed “shade” simply wasn’t there.
When asked, Underwood responded with a chuckle:

“The day I go to space will be when the good Lord decides my time on Earth here is done and he takes me home. So, that will be the day I leave this Earth.”

That’s it. No mention of Katy, no sarcasm, just a sincere (and slightly humorous) take on why she prefers to keep her boots on the ground. Ironically, Lionel Richie gave a nearly identical answer—minus the media frenzy. But woman-on-woman drama? That always makes a splashier headline.

And just when the gossip machine was reaching full speed, Carrie and Katy shut it down in the most spectacular way possible.

At a surprise American Idol celebration concert, the two powerhouses delivered a duet that turned rumors into roaring applause. Underwood and Perry stunned the crowd with a high-voltage mashup of “Blown Away” and “Roar,” their powerhouse vocals dancing between harmonies and head-turning solos. Carrie shimmered in gold, Katy dazzled in a space-silver suit—a cheeky nod, perhaps, to the origin of the rumors.

As they sang shoulder-to-shoulder, exchanged knowing glances, and brought the house down with a climactic final note, the message was crystal clear:
There’s no feud here—just mutual respect, star power, and absolute stage domination.

After the show, Katy grinned, “Guess we’re not so ‘spacey’ after all, huh Carrie?”
Carrie laughed, adding, “As long as we stay on Earth and slay like this—I’m good.”

With that, the crowd erupted, the internet took a collective breath, and two of music’s biggest forces reminded the world: sometimes the best way to silence rumors… is to sing louder.