Kellyoke
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Kelly Clarkson dug into Taylor Swift‘s storied songbook by covering “Clean” on her eponymous talk show Wednesday (April 12).
Glammed out in a black dress and chunky studded belt with her hair up in a rare ponytail, the original American Idol winner did the beloved 1989 closer justice as she sang, “Hung my head as I lost the war/ And the sky turned black like a perfect storm/ Rain came pourin’ down/ When I was drownin’/ That’s when I could finally breathe/ And by morning/ Gone was any trace of you/ I think I am finally clean/ I think I am finally clean.”
The song choice felt particularly profound considering Clarkson’s on the verge of rolling out Chemistry, her long-awaited album following her divorce from music manager Brandon Blackstock, starting with lead single “Mine / Me” this Friday (April 14). In fact, she’s already teased a few snippets of the breakup ballad on social media with defiant lyrics such as “‘Cause I don’t need somebody to scold me/ Don’t need somebody that hurts me/ Don’t need somebody who feels weak/ Standing next to me.”
Meanwhile, Swift surprised the sold-out crowd in Arlington, Texas, by performing a piano version of “Clean” on the second night of her Eras Tour stop at AT&T Stadium on April 1. During the show, she paired the fan-favorite ballad with the equally loved “Death By a Thousand Cuts” off 2019’s Lover, leading some Swifties to wonder in hindsight if she was quietly dropping clues about her recent reported breakup with Joe Alwyn before the news became public.
Watch Clarkson power through Swift’s “Clean” below.
Kelly Clarkson kicked off the week of her popular daytime talk show on Monday (April 10) with a duet, calling on Charles Esten for an anthemic cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days.”
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With Esten on the guitar, the duo harmonized in the chorus of the ode to nostalgia, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart dated August 3, 1985. The song, featured on Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A., spent a total of 18 weeks on the tally.
Other songs Clarkson has recently taken on for her Kellyoke segment include Lenny Kravitz’s cover of “American Woman,” GAYLE’s Grammy-nominated breakout “abcdefu” — complete with tweaked lyrics to allude to her divorce from Brandon Blackstock — and Janet Jackson’s “When I Think of You.”
Clarkson is also gearing up to release her highly anticipated album Chemistry, her first project of original, non-holiday music since 2017’s Meaning of Life. The studio set’s lead single “Mine” is set to arrive April 14 via Atlantic Records.
Watch Kelly Clarkson and Charles Esten perform Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” below.
Kelly Clarkson took fans back to the 1970s for the Thursday (April 6) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, performing The Emotions‘ signature hit “Best of My Love” for the opening Kellyoke segment.
Accompanied by her band Y’all, the three-time Grammy winner put her own spin on the girl-group track, using her signature belt to execute soaring high notes and stunning vibrato moments.
“Doesn’t take much to make me happy/ And make me smile with glee/ Never, never will I feel discouraged/ ‘Cause our love’s no mystery/ Demonstrating love and affection/ That you give so openly, yeah/ I like the way you make me feel about you, baby/ Want the whole wide world to see,” Clarkson powerfully sang before launching into the track’s iconic chorus, supported by two backup singers.
“Best of My Love,” released as a single from the girl group’s 1977 album Rejoice, was a smash. The track became The Emotions’ first and only No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending five weeks atop the chart. “Best of My Love” also won at the 20th annual Grammy Awards, taking home a golden gramophone for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal. “Best of My Love” landed the No. 10 spot on Billboard‘s 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time list.
Watch Clarkson’s rendition of The Emotions’ classic track in the video above.
Kelly Clarkson kicked off the Wednesday (April 5) episode of her talk show with a lovely, lilting cover of Joni Mitchell‘s “A Case of You.”
Accompanied by a lone Appalachian dulcimer, much like the original recording, the American Idol winner rolled out the story Mitchell first told on her landmark 1971 album Blue, singing, “Just before our love got lost you said/ ‘I am as constant as a northern star’/ And I said, ‘Constantly in the darkness/ Where’s that at?/ If you want me I’ll be in the bar’/ On the back of a cartoon coaster/ In the blue TV screen light/ I drew a map of Canada/ Oh, Canada/ With your face sketched on it twice.”
The ballad was originally released as the B-side to Blue‘s sophomore single “California,” which failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 following the modest success of lead single “Carey.” Mitchell later re-recorded “A Case of You” for her 1974 live album Miles of Aisles and another version of the song also reappeared on her 2000 orchestral full-length Both Sides Now.
Other tracks Clarkson has selected for a Kellyoke spin as of late include Lenny Kravitz’s cover of “American Woman,” GAYLE’s Grammy-nominated breakout “abcdefu” — complete with tweaked lyrics to allude to her divorce from Brandon Blackstock — and Janet Jackson’s “When I Think of You.”
Meanwhile, the talk show host is also prepping the long-awaited release of Chemistry, her first new album of original, non-holiday music since 2017’s Meaning of Life. The studio set’s lead single “Mine” is set to arrive April 14 via Atlantic Records.
Watch Clarkson pay homage to Mitchell with her take on “A Case of You” below.
Kelly Clarkson was not playing around in her latest Kellyoke performance. The three-time Grammy winner sang a fiery cover of Gayle‘s viral hit “abcdefu” on The Kelly Clarkson Show Thursday (March 30), after which fans were quick to notice that she’d made a few pointed lyric changes — which they believe are directed at her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.
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Right from the start, Clarkson made the 2023 Grammy song of the year nominee her own, belting out tweaked lyrics as strobe lights and electric guitar raged behind her. “Forget you, and your dad, and the fact that you got half,” she sang, an immediate departure from the original words. “And my broken heart, turn that s–t into art.”
The “Stronger” singer later repeated those lines in place of the song’s chorus, which usually goes, “F–k you and your mom and your sister and your job/ And your broke a– car and that s–t you call art.”
The lyric change, particularly “the fact that you got half,” seemed indicative of Clarkson’s high profile 2022 divorce settlement with Blackstock, to whom she was married from 2013 to 2020 — at least, it did to fans, who also picked up on some extra passionate facial expressions and hand gestures the Voice coach added to the new Kellyoke cover. “The finger listing at the end, all the eyebrow raising…we see and hear you @kellyclarkson,” tweeted one fan in response to a video of the performance.
“Oh she real mad at Br*ndon!!” tweeted another.
“On the video’s YouTube page, more fans shared their belief that the singer was calling out her ex.
“‘the fact that you got half’ — yesss drag him!!!” wrote one viewer. “my broken heart, turn that bullsh*t into art — new album coming!”
“Kelly is putting Narvel and Brandon on some serious blast,” added another. Narvel is Blackstock’s dad, who is a producer and manager. The elder Blackstock was previously married to Reba McEntire for 26 years.
Billboard has reached out to Clarkson’s reps for comment.
Clarkson first filed to split from Brandon in June of 2020. In December of that year, she was granted primary custody of their two children, River and Remington. In March of 2022, the former couple finalized the terms of their divorce, with the American Idol alum agreeing to pay her ex $1.3 million in addition to monthly child support.
Her flaming new Kellyoke cover comes just a few days after Clarkson announced her next album Chemistry, which doesn’t yet have a confirmed release date. The record will explore the complicated emotions she experienced in the wake of her breakup and her adjustment to life as a single mom, as well as the evolution of her past relationship.
“I was trying to find a word, it might be one of the songs on the album, but I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing,” she said while announcing the project Sunday (March 26). “I didn’t want everybody to think I was just coming out with some ‘I’m angry,’ ‘I’m sad’ — just one or two emotions. This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship.”
Watch Kelly Clarkson cover Gayle’s “abcdefu” on The Kelly Clarkson Show below:
Kelly Clarkson just covered another artist’s hit song, but as per usual, she did it her way. On the Thursday (March 23) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the three-time Grammy winner and her band Y’all put their own special spin on “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” the 1993 smash that solidified Lenny Kravitz‘s place in music stardom.
The Thursday (March 23) performance came complete with all the hallmarks of Clarkson’s best Kellyoke performances, including flashing lights, epic solos and the “Stronger” singer’s own signature vocal power. She belted out one sky-high note after another throughout the song while her electric guitarist shredded sizzling riffs behind her.
“So tell me why we got to die/ And kill each other one by one/ We’ve got to hug and rub-a-dub/ We’ve got to dance and be in love,” Clarkson sang, her audience clapping along to the hardcore beat. “Are you gonna go my way?/ And I got to, got to know/ Are you gonna go my way?”
Released in 1993 as the title track and lead single off Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way album, the rock anthem is one of the Hunger Games star’s best-known songs. It topped Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart the year it was released and picked up two Grammy nominations in 1994, earning nods for best rock song and best male rock performance. Meanwhile, the album reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200, at the time blowing away Kravitz’s previous chart peaks with Mama Said and Let Love Rule.
“It just did what it wanted to do,” the musician told Billboard in 2013, reflecting on the then 20-year-old record’s success. “It was an amazing time. I was touring the world and seeing the world for the first time that extensively, and my life was very, very free, very wild, a lot of craziness going on — a lot of emotions and a lot of feelings. But I had no idea that this record was going to catapult me into that next level, no idea at all. I was just really enjoying the creative process.”
Watch Kelly Clarkson rock out to Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” in the video above.
Kelly Clarkson‘s latest Kellyoke is a smash. For the Tuesday (Feb. 27) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the three-time Grammy winner effortlessly covered the Smashing Pumpkins‘ nostalgic 1995 hit “1979.”
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Though Clarkson and her band Y’all are no strangers to big production performances with flashing lights and show-stopping musical moments, this time, they kept things as simple and breezy as their song of choice. “I don’t even care to shake these zipper blues,” the talk show host’s voice floated over the track’s repeating mellow guitar lick. “And we don’t know just where our bones will rest to dust, I guess, forgotten and absorbed to the Earth below.”
Written by frontman Billy Corgan, the Smashing Pumpkins released “1979” as a single off the band’s third studio album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The track peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the band’s highest-charting song to date — and was nominated for record of the year at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
The band is currently in the process of releasing its latest project ATUM in three parts; Act I dropped in November, Act II arrived last month, and Act III is due in April. According to Corgan’s interview with The Guardian last fall, the completed record will serve as the final installment in a concept album trilogy set into motion with Mellon Collie.
“I believe we’re one of the great bands, and it starts with the conviction that we have something unique to say,” he told the publication. “We’re back to doing what we’re good at.”
Watch Kelly Clarkson perform the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” on The Kelly Clarkson Show in the above video.
Can’t stay away from Kellyoke? Understandable, and luckily, you don’t have to. Kelly Clarkson dropped her newest Kelly Clarkson Show live cover on Monday (Feb. 27), this time, singing Muna‘s “Stayaway,” for you to come back and dance to as many times as you like — just don’t go texting your toxic ex.
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The three-time Grammy winner spent the performance under a wash of aptly melancholy blue lighting, passionately singing Muna’s straight-shooting lyrics about the struggles of keeping your distance from a past relationship when everything reminds you of your former partner. “If I see my old friends, we’ll go out dancing/ If we go out dancing, then we’ll go to the bar,” Clarkson sang. “If we go to the bar, then there’s gonna be drinking/ If I drink, I wanna see where you are.”
“No one ever told me leaving was the easy part/ I gotta stay away,” she continued, her voice growing more and more intense with each line. “Leaving you was easy, now I gotta do what’s hard/ I gotta stay away.”
“no way!!!!!” the band tweeted Monday after seeing Clarkson’s tribute. “so honored, wow.”
The electro-pop rock anthem was released in 2019 as a single off Muna’s sophomore album Saves The World, which has since been followed up by the Los Angeles trio’s self-titled third album. Comprised of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson, the band signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ label Saddest Factory Records in 2021 and will join their label-owner on the road this year, both serving as openers for dates on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
Watch Kelly Clarkson perform Muna’s “Stayaway” on The Kelly Clarkson Show in the video above.
Kelly Clarkson brought her usual positive energy to her eponymous talk show on Tuesday (Feb. 21), this time taking on Dermot Kennedy‘s upbeat ballad “Better Days” for her daily Kellyoke segment.
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Backed by her My Band Y’all, the pop superstar performed an emotional rendition of the track, singing in the chorus, “I know you’ve been hurtin’ / Waitin’ on a train that just won’t come / The rain, it ain’t permanent / And soon, we’ll be dancin’ in the sun / We’ll be dancin’ in the sun.”
The track is featured on the 31-year-old Irish singer-songwriter’s 2022 album, Sonder. “I found the word ‘sonder’ a few years ago, the meaning being just the awareness that everybody is living a life just as important and as complex as your own,” he recently told Billboard of his sophomore LP’s title. “At that point, I didn’t really have any part of my life or career to attach it to, so it was just a word that I appreciated and it meant something to me.”
Clarkson’s daily mini-performances have become so popular since The Kelly Clarkson Show first began in 2019, she released an EP featuring recordings of six Kellyoke-ified songs over the summer. Her standout cover of Whitney Houston’s “Queen of the Night” was one of them, along with Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” The Weeknd’s “Call Out My Name” and more.
Watch Kelly Clarkson’s cover of Dermot Kennedy’s “Better Days” below.
Kelly Clarkson is flexing her balladeer muscles. On the Friday (Feb. 17) installment of The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s Kellyoke series, the three-time Grammy winner wowed her audience with a triumphant cover of Cher‘s 1998 track “Strong Enough.”
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Clarkson brought out the self-love anthem’s emotional texture by performing the first few bars with nothing but piano accompanying her soulful voice. “Where did you sleep last night, and was she worth it?” she crooned, before a drumroll and electric guitar boomed into the mix.
“‘Cause I’m strong enough to live without you, strong enough/ And I quit crying long enough,” she continued, now leaning full-throttle into her robust, trademark belt. “Now I’m strong enough to know you gotta go/ Come hell or waters high you’ll never see me cry/ This is our last goodbye, it’s true.”
Released in 1998 as a single off of Cher’s album Believe, “Strong Enough” is certainly a fitting track for an artist whose biggest hit to date is called “Stronger” to cover. In fact, the two songs have strikingly similar messages as well, with Clarkson also singing on her 2011 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 about being strong enough to live without an ex, or as she puts it, with “just me, myself and I.”
The latest Kellyoke isn’t the first time Clarkson has paid tribute to Cher, though. In a previous season of her daytime talkshow, the Voice coach covered the dance pop legend’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
Watch Kelly Clarkson perform Cher’s “Strong Enough” on The Kelly Clarkson Show below: