Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson; April 24, 1982)[a] is an American singer, songwriter, television personality, and author. She rose to fame after winning the first season of American Idol in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA Records. Her debut single, "A Moment Like This", topped the US Billboard Hot 100, and became the country's best-selling single of 2002. It was included on her debut studio album, Thankful (2003), which entered the Billboard 200 at number one, and also yielded the top-10 single "Miss Independent". Trying to reinvent her image, Clarkson parted ways with Idol management and shifted to pop rock for her second studio album, Breakaway (2004). Supported by four US top-ten singles – the title track, "Since U Been Gone", "Behind These Hazel Eyes", and "Because of You" – Breakaway sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won two Grammy Awards.
Clarkson took further creative control for her third studio album, My December (2007), co-writing all of its tracks and becoming its executive producer. However, her label was dissatisfied with the album's darker rock music and promoted it reluctantly.[5] Clarkson's fourth and fifth studio albums, All I Ever Wanted (2009) and Stronger (2011), returned to a lighter tone and pop rock sound, with the former becoming her second US number-one album and the latter making her the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album twice. Both albums spawned a Hot 100 number-one single: "My Life Would Suck Without You", which holds the record for the biggest jump to number one in the chart's history, and "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)", which became her best-selling single worldwide. Clarkson then had the best-selling Christmas album of the year with Wrapped in Red (2013). Its single, "Underneath the Tree", was named the ASCAP's most popular Christmas song released in the 21st century.[6] Her seventh studio album, Piece by Piece (2015), debuted at number-one in the US, while its title track reached the top ten. After leaving RCA and signing with Atlantic in 2016, Clarkson released her soul-influenced eighth album, Meaning of Life (2017), her second Christmas album, When Christmas Comes Around... (2021), and her tenth studio album, Chemistry (2023), alongside the Adult Top 40 top-10 singles "Love So Soft" and "Mine".
Clarkson also served as a coach on The Voice from its fourteenth season to the twenty-first season, and again for the twenty-third season. Since 2019, she has hosted her own talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show.[7] Among her numerous accolades, she has received three MTV Video Music Awards, three Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, seven Daytime Emmy Awards, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Clarkson has sold over 25 million albums and 45 million singles worldwide. She has 11 top-ten singles in the US, and nine top-ten singles in the UK, Canada, and Australia. She became the first artist in history to top each of Billboard's pop, adult contemporary, adult pop, country, and dance charts. Billboard has hailed Clarkson as "one of pop music's greatest singers",[8] and honored her with the Powerhouse Award, while VH1 ranked her nineteenth on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.
Early life and career[edit]
Kelly Brianne Clarkson was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to Jeanne Ann (née Rose), a first-grade English teacher, and Stephen Michael Clarkson, a former engineer.[9] She has an older brother, Jason and an older sister, Alyssa.[9][10] Clarkson also has two younger half-brothers from her father's second marriage.[11] Her parents divorced when she was six years old,[12] whereupon her brother went to live with their father, her sister went to live with an aunt, and she stayed with her mother.[9] Clarkson's mother later married Jimmy Taylor. Clarkson is of English, Welsh, Irish and Greek descent.[13][14] Her mother is a descendant of Republican state senator Isaiah Rose, whose life story was discussed on Clarkson's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? in 2013.[15] Clarkson was raised Southern Baptist.[16] She has said, "I always grew up in church. I was the leader of our youth group. I've always grown up pretty close to church and with God. But I think I've just gotten a lot closer just because He's the only one I can lean on."[17] She later said of her upbringing, "My family was highly conservative; I had to go to church on Sunday and Wednesday."[18]
Clarkson grew up in Burleson, Texas, and was educated at Pauline Hughes Middle School. In the seventh grade, the school's choir teacher, Cynthia Glenn, overheard her singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the school choir. Clarkson told her she had never received any professional vocal training.[19] Clarkson graduated from Burleson High School in 2000, where she performed in several musicals, such as Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Brigadoon.[20][21] Clarkson started voice training, hoping to secure a college scholarship in music.[21]
After graduating from high school, Clarkson declined full scholarships to the University of Texas at Austin, University of North Texas, and Berklee College of Music. She declined them stating, "I'd already written so much music and wanted to try on my own. And I figured you're never too old to go to college."[22][21] She worked several jobs to finance a demo, recording material and trying to market it to record labels, but she received little response. Clarkson turned down two recording contracts from Jive Records and Interscope Records, saying, "They would have completely pigeonholed me as a bubblegum act.[9] I was confident enough that something better would come along."[20] In 2001, she traveled to Los Angeles, pursuing a career in music. She appeared as an extra in a few television series such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Dharma & Greg,[23] and briefly worked with musician Gerry Goffin to record five demo tracks in an effort to secure a record deal.[24] According to Clarkson, her early attempts to launch her music career floundered when she was turned down by almost every U.S. record label for sounding "too black".[25] Lack of other career opportunities and a fire incident in her apartment forced Clarkson to return to Burleson, where she promoted Red Bull energy drinks, worked as a telemarketer and as a cocktail waitress in a comedy club.[19][26]
Artistry[edit]
Voice[edit]
Critics have described Clarkson as having a soprano voice.[169][170][171][172] Describing Clarkson's voice, Arion Berger of Rolling Stone wrote that "her high notes are sweet and pillowy, her growl is bone-shaking and sexy, and her mid-range is amazingly confident."[173] In reviewing a live performance of Clarkson's, Jon Caramanica of The New York Times said she "showed off a voice that moved in all sorts of ways, without ever appearing to strain", continuing "Ms. Clarkson, who has a malleable voice and a boatload of vocal confidence, might be a soul siren in the making". However, in a separate review of Stronger, Caramanica said Clarkson's voice is "too huge, too violent" for warmer and sweeter vocal stylings, stating "she's on a par with Taylor Swift when it comes to vengeance, and she'll do it louder and with more brutality in comparison to her contemporary."[174][175] In a live review as part of her Stronger Tour, Sophie Sinclair of Hit The Floor said "Kelly's strong and powerful voice was flawless throughout the night, and some may even say she sounds better live than she does on her albums".[176] Mark Deming from Phoenix New Times stated that "in an era when pop music means over-singing a song into a bloody pulp, Clarkson has consistently displayed both charisma and a welcome sense of restraint, knowing how to sound passionate and heartfelt without forgetting where the melody and the root note is supposed to go."[177]
Dr. Luke, who produced some of Clarkson's hits, said "She has powerful lungs. She's like the Lance Armstrong of vocal cords."[178]
In an interview with Good Morning America, Simon Cowell was asked of the then six American Idol winners, who he thought had the best voice. Cowell immediately answered that Clarkson did "by a mile", noting that she was "up there" with other great singers such as Celine Dion.[179] Esquire wrote that Clarkson has "the best voice in the history of pop music".[180] Reviewing Stronger, Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone states, Clarkson has "one of music's most remarkable voices."[181] Jason Lipshutz from Billboard considered Clarkson as one of the greatest singers in pop music.[8] Regarding the controversial practice of lip-syncing, Clarkson says she never has and never will lip-sync, elaborating in an interview with Cory Myers, "I've actually never done that because I'm terrified; if I ever did that, something horrible would happen, the track would skip. I have a really unhealthy fear about it. So no, I've never done that".[182] Clarkson has earned the title "Queen of Covers" for her ability to perform songs from artists of various genres.[183]
Personal life[edit]
In 2013, Clarkson began dating talent manager Brandon Blackstock, son of her former manager Narvel Blackstock and former stepson of Reba McEntire.[215][216] She and Blackstock married on October 20, 2013, at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee.[217] During their marriage, Brandon was her manager.[218] Together, they have a daughter, born in June 2014,[219] and a son, born in April 2016.[220] In June 2020, Clarkson filed for divorce from Blackstock, citing irreconcilable differences.[221][222] In March 2022, it was reported their divorce had been finalized.[223] In February 2022, Clarkson officially changed her legal name to Kelly Brianne. In an interview, she revealed the name change was for her personal life, while her public name would remain the same. Clarkson stated the reason behind her name change was due to a strained relationship with her late father.[4]
On November 21, 2023, Clarkson was awarded more than $2.6 million from her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, for commissions paid to him for business deals he procured as her manager. The California Labor Commissioner ruled that Blackstock violated the state's Talent Agencies Act by handling these deals, which should have been managed by Clarkson's talent agents at Creative Artists Agency. The ruling included commissions from Clarkson's role on The Voice and other promotional agreements, but did not require repayment for deals related to The Kelly Clarkson Show.[224]
In October 2019, Clarkson said that she has been managing an autoimmune condition and a thyroid condition since 2006,[225][226] which she had previously addressed on Today in 2018.[227]
