Carrie Underwood’s ongoing trek across North America has been extended to last until the end of the year as the country superstar continues backing “Play On,” Underwood’s third studio album that was released last year.

The outing will continue on in Grand Rapids, MI on April 23 and run through late June. It will then resume in early fall following a handful of appearances at summer festivals. The tour’s new fall leg will visit over 45 cities and kick off in Portland, OR on September 25 and wrap up in Calgary, Alberta on December 19.

Tickets will be going on sale for the additional shows starting on April 24.

“Play On” was released by Underwood last November. Last year the album registered the largest total first week sales from any woman recording artist and was also the second best week of sales for any country performer for 2009 according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan reported by Billboard.

“Play On” followed “Carnival Ride” from 2007 and debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart. Underwood was on the road for most of 2008 for her “Carnival Ride Tour,” a 137 show trek that drew over 1.2 million fans.

Underwood won a Grammy in January. Her duet with Randy Travis, “I Told You So,” won Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. The former winner of “American Idol,” at the age of twenty seven, has already won four Grammys. Over the past three years she has also won for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Following the release of “Play On,” her newest album topping the charts, Carrie Underwood has announced plans for a large US tour scheduled for the new year.

The outing’s first leg will contain 45 dates and start in Reading, PA on March 11. The tour will continue until May 30 with a stop in Spokane, WA. Underwood’s country trek will feature Sons of Sylvia and Craig Morgan as special guests and will also stop in two Canadian cities. On March 23 Underwood will be in Hamilton and on March 24 in Ontario.

In her press release Underwood stated, I am getting very excited over next year. We are working currently through some big plans for next year’s tour. I can’t wait until I get to perform some new music as well as see some familiar faces all across Canada and the US.

Early last month the country singer dropped her third studio set, “Play On.” The album followed up on her sophomore record, “Carnival Ride,” which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 chart.

The first week sales for “Play On” were the largest sales for one week in 2009 for any female recording artist. It was also second over all best sales week in 2009 for the genre of country music, according to retail data from Nielsen SoundScan and reported by Billboard.

Carrie Underwood, winner of multiple awards, has to date sold over 11 million records and also attracted over one million fans on last year’s “Carnival Ride,” her 137 show tour.

Underwood was nominated last week for two Grammys. For her song “Just a Dream” she was nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and for her “I Told You So,” working with Randy Travis, she was nominated for Best Country Collaboration. The country super star singer has received a total of four Grammy trophies already, including three straight Best Female Country vocal Performance awards.

While getting ready to go out with Keith Urban on a co-headlining tour, Carrie Underwood is also announcing dates for a North American outing of her own.

The first six shows for her “Carnival Ride Tour” intertwine with her co-billing with Urban scheduled to kick off in Uncasville, CT on January 31. The headlining gigs for Underwood start in Wilkes-Barre, PA on February 18. Josh Turner, country singer and Grammy nominee, will be along as well. According to an Underwood press release, it is expected that the tour will grow to over 30 dates. On Saturday, January 12, tickets for the first shows will go on sale.

The country and crossover singer says that she is excited at the prospect of doing a full performance of her music.

Underwood in a statement said, I have been very luck to learn from lots of other great artists as I have toured with them. They have really inspired me in many, many ways. They helped me to be able to reach this point of having my first set of real headline shows. Finally I feel I am ready.

Underwood’s superstar status for live performances seems to be catching up to her recording world superstar status. She made history recently by becoming the best selling female singer across all musical genres for the second year in a row.

“Carnival Ride,” her sophomore double platinum selling album, has spawned “So Small,” her multi-week No. 1 hit song. It’s the fifth country chart topper for Underwood in a row. Her first four came with “Some Hearts,” the multi platinum debut for the singer. “All American Girls,” Underwood’s latest single, is making its way currently up country music’s charts.

Underwood has won two Grammy awards and is the current Female Vocalist of the Year with both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music.

Confirmed dates are beginning to be reported for the US tour next year featuring Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban.

“Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour,” is scheduled for 24 cities. It is set to kick off on January 31 in Uncasville, CT for two nights. Other confirmed cities so far include San Jose, CA; Omaha, NE; and Roanoke, VA.

Keith Urban, who was recently recognized as Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year for the third time, will be supporting “Love, Pain & the whole Crazy Thing,” his newest No. 1 album, along with “Keith Urban Greatest Hits: 18 Kids,” his best-of album that dropped last week.

Since April Urban has been out on the road. He will continue on his gigs throughout Canada and the US through mid December. Urban is also looking forward to next summer. He has a date booked on the “Kenny Chesney’s Poets & Pirates 2008 Tour.” On July 26 the show in Foxboro, MA in Gillette Stadium will feature Urban as well as Gary Allen, LeAnn Rimes and Sammy Hagar.

Carrie Underwood continues to ride high with “Carnival Ride,” her successful sophomore album. Last month it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart after selling over 500,000 copies in the first week the album was out in stores. “So Small,” lead single from the album, reclaimed it’s No. 1 spot recently on country music’s airplay charts. The songs is also making some waves on pop charts as well.

In the meantime, the winner of American Idol is still receiving accolades for her debut “Some Hearts,” which is a multi-platinum selling album. Earlier in the month Underwood received three different American Music Awards. They included Favorite Country Album and Favorite Country Female Artist. She also received before that two CMA Awards. She was recognized as Female Vocalist of the Year. For her song “Before He Cheats,” one of her five singles from “Some Hearts” to make it to number one, she won Single of the Year. “Some Hearts” was the best selling album by a female country singer for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

For Underwood she has one remaining concert to perform this year. On December 11 she will appear on Tuesday Night Opry in the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville along with Bill Anderson, Jimmy Dickens, The Grascals and Blake Shelton.