Carrie Underwood wasn't far into her emotional speech during her induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday (Sept. 20) before the tears started to come.

"How is this my life?" the incredulous superstar asked the throngs of family, friends, fans and music industry insiders who gathered outside the Capitol Records building at 1750 N. Vine Street to watch her receive the 2,646th star on the Walk of Fame.

"How does a girl from Checotah, Okla., end up with a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame? I will tell you how."

The normally reserved singer gave an emotional speech in which she expressed her gratitude to everyone who had supported her over the years, beginning with her family, who were on hand to witness the occasion. Fondly recalling that her parents would always enter her in contests, she revealed that they once bought her "this big old used DJ board with all the knobs on it, and these giant speakers."

See Photos From Carrie Underwood's Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony

"I would practice, and they would always ask me, 'Did you practice?'" she recalled. "Which they knew I did, 'cause we lived in a tiny house and they could hear me. But driving me to places, taking me to places, just being incredibly encouraging. There was belief there."

She also thanked "judges who believed in me" on American Idol, as well as the fans who voted for her career-launching win in 2005 and the professional team that has helped her build her massive success since then. But Underwood saved her most passionate thanks for her husband, Mike Fisher, and their three-year-old son, Isaiah.

She lauded Fisher as "an incredible man who thinks I'm so much better than I am in every way." Addressing her son directly, she added, "Isaiah Michael, I love you so much ... and I'm proud of you, and I believe in you, too."

Former Idol judge Simon Cowell was on hand to praise Underwood, recalling that season of American Idol auditions was going horribly before she auditioned in St. Louis.

"To the point where it was like, 'You know what, we might as well say goodbye now," he shared. "The whole show was in gray and white, and this shy lady walks in and sings 'I Can't Make You Love Me,' and the show turned into full color at that point ... I thought, 'We may have found a great artist here.'" Cowell eventually predicted that Underwood would become the best-selling artist in the history of the show — "Which you have," he noted.

Underwood's longtime CMA Awards co-host, Brad Paisley, also took the podium to say a few sincere words about his friend.

"She not only goes into our [country] format and starts having one hit record after another — and is still having hit records — she goes from there to doing good works in this world, and making sure that she's giving back," he said. "Between herself, Mike, her family — they live the kind of life all of us would be proud to live."

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