Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson
Clarkson at the DoD Warrior Games opening ceremony in June 2018
Born
Kelly Brianne Clarkson

(1982-04-24) April 24, 1982 (age 42)
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Other namesKelly Brianne
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • television personality
  • author
Years active2002–present
Spouse
Brandon Blackstock
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2022)​
Children2
AwardsFull list
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Labels
Websitekellyclarkson.com
Signature

Kelly Brianne[a] (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. 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 genres to pop rock for her second studio album, Breakaway (2004), one of the best-selling albums by a female artist. 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, eight Daytime Emmy Awards,[8] and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Clarkson has sold over 28 million albums and 54 million singles worldwide.[9] 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" [10] and honored her with the Powerhouse Award, while VH1 ranked her nineteenth on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.

  1. ^ Small, Elle. "Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted Review". BBC. Archived from the original on November 25, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  2. ^ Kaplan, Ilana (June 23, 2023). "Kelly Clarkson Turns the Messiness of Divorce into Showstopping Pop Spectacle on 'Chemistry'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 21, 2024. Clarkson is at her strongest when she's sticking to grunge guitars and power-pop anthems
  3. ^ a b Donnelly, Matthew Scott (June 26, 2016). "9 Kelly Clarkson Tracks That Prove a Soul Album Could Be Just The Ticket Read More: 9 Kelly Clarkson Tracks That Prove a Soul Album Could Be Just The Ticket". PopCrush. Retrieved March 21, 2024. Still, across seven albums, she's offered hints of commercial R&B and soul-pop that might collectively give her next LP a bit of context
  4. ^ Byrne, Suzy (March 22, 2022). "Kelly Clarkson sets the record straight on name change to Kelly Brianne". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022. "I just got divorced, so I had to drop my married last name," Clarkson, 39, explained to People on Monday. Kelly Brianne will just be "for my personal life," she noted, and not a new stage or professional name.
    "I'm still Kelly Clarkson," she clarified.
  5. ^ Georgi, Maya. "Kelly Clarkson Biography". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media LLC. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  6. ^ Willman, Chris (December 9, 2021). "What Are the Biggest Christmas Songs Released This Century? ASCAP Has a List and Checked It Twice". Variety. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  7. ^ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (September 7, 2022). "Can Kelly Clarkson Save Daytime? The Host on Taking Over Ellen's Spot, Touring Again and Broadway Dreams". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  8. ^ Grein, Paul (June 7, 2024). "Kelly Clarkson Wins One, Loses One at 2024 Daytime Emmys". Billboard. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  9. ^ Brathwaite, Lester (September 19, 2022). "Kelly Clarkson's Walk of Fame induction was an American Idol reunion". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference greatest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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