This crossover airplay helped the song reach the upper tier of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it reached a peak position of 20. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" additionally peaked at number four on the Hot Christian Songs chart and at number 23 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and eventually hit number one in January 2006, becoming the first of Underwood's record-setting 15 number-ones. Rolling Stone ranked the song as Underwood's eighth-best, based on a reader-voted poll, in 2015 and wrote that "as Underwood's vocals soared into the stratosphere during the track's final chorus, so did her career." Charts performance In a review of Some Hearts, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised Underwood's delivery of the song, writing that she "sounds equally convincing on such sentimental fare as "Jesus, Take the Wheel" as on the soaring pop "Some Hearts."" In 2013, Matt Bjorke of RoughStock ranked "Jesus, Take the Wheel" as the tenth-best song of Underwood's career at that point, writing that that song "show the strength of her voice through complex vocal runs and tender verse readings." On a similar ranking in 2017, Chuck Dauphin of Billboard placed the song as Underwood's fourth-best song to date. Upon the song's release, some critics questioned the marketability of launching Underwood's career with an overtly faith-based song. Personal stories from the writers' pasts influenced details of the song's lyrics. Lyrically, the song tells the story of a woman who survives a car crash, seemingly as part of a miracle of divine intervention. The song was written at co-writer Hillary Lindsey's house and is centered around the premise of what happens "when Jesus takes the wheel," a phrase Gordie Sampson brought to the writing session as a possible title. Underwood's vocal range spans over two octaves from F ♯ 3 to G 5. The song is composed in the key of A major and is set in the time signature of 4/4 common time with a moderately slow tempo of 76 beats per minute. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" is a Christian country song that lasts for three minutes and forty-six seconds. The song ranked number four on CMT's "40 Greatest Songs of the Decade". "Jesus, Take the Wheel" won the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song and it won Single of the Year at the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards, amongst other nominations at these and other award ceremonies. Underwood has performed "Jesus, Take the Wheel" during multiple awards show appearances and has included the song on the set list for all of her headlining concert tours. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" has sold over 2.743 million copies in the United States as of February 2016 and has been certified three-times Platinum by the RIAA. It also became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song enjoyed crossover success, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart and charting on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. "Jesus, Take the Wheel" became the first of Underwood's record-setting 15 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, spending six weeks at the number one position. The ballad tells of a woman seeking help from Jesus in an emergency and surrendering control to a higher power. It was released in October 2005 as the first single from Underwood's debut album Some Hearts (2005). " Jesus, Take the Wheel" is a song written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson, and recorded by American country music artist Carrie Underwood.