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Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24,
1982 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American
singer-songwriter who has enjoyed success in the pop and
rock music genres. Clarkson made her debut under RCA
Records after she won the highly publicized first season
of the television series American Idol in 2002. She was
originally marketed as a pop musician with her debut
album Thankful (2003).
With the release of her multi-platinum
second album Breakaway (2004), Clarkson moved to a more
pop rock-oriented style of music, and won two Grammy
Awards. Clarkson's new album, entitled My December, is
scheduled to be released on June 26, 2007.
Early life: Clarkson was born in Fort Worth,
Texas, and grew up in the small town of Burleson, Texas.
She is the third and youngest child of Jeanne Ann Rose,
a first grade teacher who is of Greek and Irish descent,
and Stephen Michael Clarkson, a former engineer who is
of Welsh extraction. Clarkson's siblings include her
brother Jason, and her sister Alyssa. When Clarkson was
six years old, her parents split up after seventeen
years of marriage. As a result, her brother went to live
with her father, her sister went to live with an aunt,
and Clarkson remained with her mother.
Clarkson frequently moved around Texas
while her mother managed several professions in order to
support the family. Clarkson has since stated that,
being six years old at the time, she did not understand
why her family had been constantly moving. Eventually,
the family settled in Burleson, where Clarkson's mother
married her second husband, Jimmy Taylor.
Clarkson attended Fulton Middle School and Burleson High
School. She originally wanted to become a marine
biologist. In seventh grade, a teacher overheard her
singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the
school choir. Clarkson told the teacher that she had
never received professional vocal training before. In
high school, Clarkson performed in musicals such as
Brigadoon.
Upon graduation in 2000, Clarkson worked several
occupations to finance her demo CD that she hoped to
market toward record labels. She received few responses,
and eventually decided to move to Hollywood to seek out
other opportunities in music, one of which was a
mentorship under songwriter Gerry Goffin. However,
Goffin fell ill, and to make ends meet, Clarkson
appeared as an extra on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and
That '70s Show among others. She played a small role in
the 2002 film Issues 101. Following four months in
Hollywood, Clarkson was discouraged when her apartment
burned down and decided to return to Texas, where she
worked at a cinema, and as a cocktail waitress, Six
Flags performer, telemarketer, Kirby Vacuum salesperson,
and a Red Bull promoter.
American Idol: Once Clarkson returned to
Burleson, several of her friends encouraged her to
audition for the 2002 debut of the reality television
program American Idol. She entered the competition with
10,000 others, and the judges Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell
and Randy Jackson were impressed with her voice. She
earned a position in the Top 30 finalists and
week-by-week performed a song on live television to
North America.
When American Idol concluded each week,
the viewers would vote based on the performance they
enjoyed the most. Clarkson sang a rendition of Aretha
Franklin's "Respect" which garnered her a top
10 position. Other songs Clarkson performed on American
Idol include Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel
Like) A Natural Woman", Badfinger's "Without
You", and Céline Dion's "I Surrender".
Clarkson had made it to the final two contestants on
American Idol, and on September 4, 2002, she won the
competition and earned 58% of the audience vote over
Justin Guarini. Choking back tears, Clarkson performed
the ballad "A Moment Like This", the song
written for the winner of American Idol, which would
subsequently appear on her debut album Thankful.
The song's music video was filmed at
Pentages Theater in Hollywood, and incorporated short
scenes of Clarkson performing on Idol. When released as
a single in October 2002, it set a then record on the
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart when it rose from number
fifty-two to number one. This achievement was largely
due to the impact from Idol as the CD single managed to
sell 236,000 copies in its first week of sales in the
U.S.; it spent five weeks at number one in Canada, and
remains Clarkson's only #1 there.
After Idol: Shortly following the completion of
the first season of American Idol, Clarkson was accused
of working with a record company. American Idol's rules
stated that a contestant was not allowed to compete on
the program if they had been linked to a record company.
However, she was cleared of all allegations, as she had
only had a contract in order to conduct demonstration
work.
Soon after winning American Idol, Clarkson starred with
Idol runner-up Justin Guarini in the movie From Justin
to Kelly. The film was poorly received by critics and
grossed only $5 million at the North American box
office, less than half its reported budget. Clarkson has
mentioned in interviews that she is shocked when people
send her scripts after From Justin to Kelly, often
citing contractual obligation as her sole reason for
involvement in the film.
Clarkson is the only American Idol winner so far who has
not held the title for an entire year, since season 2
started the following spring.
World Idol: In December 2003, a competition
titled World Idol was held in London, England, gathering
the winners of the first seasons of Idol from across the
globe. Clarkson placed second behind Norwegian Idol Kurt
Nilsen. She performed Aretha Franklin's "(You Make
Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman". Because she left
immediately after the competition, she was chided by
some in the media for what they saw as poor
sportsmanship. Clarkson later explained to fans that she
was suffering from illness.
2003–2004: Thankful: Following the successful
release of "A Moment Like This", Clarkson's
full-length debut album Thankful was released in North
America by RCA Records on April 15, 2003. It debuted at
number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. Eventually, the
album was certified double platinum by the RIAA for
sales of two million copies on December 8, 2003 and
platinum by the CRIA for sales of 100,000 copies on
February 10, 2004. Reviews for the album were generally
favorable. However, several critics noted that her early
success was established due to her performances on
American Idol.
All Music Guide critic Stephen Thomas
Erlewine praised the album for its vocal ability:
"throughout this record, [Clarkson] makes it seem
effortless and charming. She can croon, she can belt out
a song, she can be sexy and sassy while still being
graceful and as wholesome as the girl next door".
Rachel Kipp of JS Online criticized Clarkson for not
having the same personality on Thankful that she had on
American Idol, and wrote: "on American Idol,
Clarkson showcased a great voice and an endearing,
'aw-shucks' personality. That personality is missing on
Thankful, and there lies the album's greatest
fault". Kipp blamed the producers behind the album
for not allowing Clarkson to be herself.
"Miss Independent" became a success when
released as the second single from Thankful. It reached
the top ten of the U.S. and Canadian singles charts, and
earned Clarkson a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for
"Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". When the
single was released in the United Kingdom and Australia,
it reached the top ten of the charts, however, Thankful
received less attention. It peaked at number forty-one
on the UK albums chart and at number thirty-three on the
Australian albums chart. Further singles released
outside North America would appear even less successful.
"Low", the third single from Thankful, reached
number two in Canada, but it was unable to make the Top
40 of the U.S. chart. The final single "The Trouble
with Love Is" was not released in Canada, and it
peaked at #101 on the U.S. Charts. Clarkson attributed
the underperformance of both releases to poor management
and relieved her manager Simon Fuller, who she felt was
not completely focused on her career.
2004–2006: Breakaway: Distancing herself from
her American Idol image, Clarkson took more creative
control with her second studio album Breakaway, and
through considerable experimentation, developed a
rock-oriented image. Her second album (2004), yielded
four U.S. top ten singles and won two Grammy Awards. The
album released by RCA Records on November 30, 2004.
Unlike her previous effort, it debuted within the U.S.
top five and Canadian top ten, and sales were initially
low in comparison to Thankful. However, the single
releases from Breakaway proved very successful, and
allowed it to become only the fourth album in history to
stay in the Billboard 200 Top 20 for a consecutive year,
as well as, being certified five-times platinum in the
U.S. on January 18, 2006 and 5x platinum in Canada in
May, 2006. With Clarkson's wins at the American Music
Awards, RCA announced Breakaway was certified 5x
Platinum by the RIAA.
In Australia, the album reached number two and spent 52
weeks in the top 10 and was certified 6x Platinum;
however, it experienced a delayed release in the UK.
Clarkson co-wrote six of the songs with several
songwriters, such as former Evanescence band members Ben
Moody and David Hodges, and producer Max Martin.
Breakaway received different responses from critics;
Rolling Stone commented that "on Kelly Clarkson's
second album, [...] she embraces her rock side rather
than the pop pageantry that put her on top of the
American Idol heap".
TeenInk noted the strength of her vocals
on Breakaway, and praised the change from pop music to
contemporary rock: "[Clarkson] retains the
incredible power and beauty of her voice while switching
to rock". Stylus magazine also enjoyed Clarkson's
foray into rock music, however, she was called out
because of her American Idol image, which reviewer
Charles Merwin believed she had yet to lose. He praised
the non-singles and wrote that they "maintain a
quality high". All Music Guide called the album
"a nice, low-key relief".
Clarkson appeared on numerous television programs during
the promotional tour for Breakaway, some of which
included Saturday Night Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show and
The View; she performed the first two singles
"Breakaway" and "Since U Been Gone"
on Saturday Night Live, which became her first major
telecast appearance in order to support the album.
"Breakaway", written by Avril Lavigne, served
as the original song for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal
Engagement (2004) and achieved considerable success
across the world; it became Clarkson's third top-ten
single in the U.S. and fourth top-ten single in Canada.
It reached number ten in Australia, and number 22 in the
UK.
The song's contemporary pop-rock
ambience was one of the several tracks including a
stronger rock-influenced sound that had not been heard
on Thankful. The second single "Since U Been
Gone", which was 'produced' by Max Martin, became
the most successful release from the album. Its music
video presented Clarkson singing to an underground
audience with a full band; cutscenes of Clarkson
destroying a former boyfriend's apartment were
incorporated. The song's strong rock ambiance allowed it
to reach number two in the U.S. and the top five across
the world. It also earned Clarkson her first Grammy
Award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance";
she won a second award for "Best Pop Vocal
Album."
The third and fourth single releases, "Behind These
Hazel Eyes" and "Because of You", also
followed with chart success. The video for "Behind
These Hazel Eyes" broke the record for days at #1
for a female artist with 33 out of 50 days #1 on TRL.
"Because Of You" became Clarkson's biggest
worldwide hit, her first to reach the number one
position on the world chart show, where it held for two
consecutive weeks (a rare event) in 2006. The video for
"Because of You" won the 2006 MTV Video Music
Award for Best Female Video, her second consecutive win
in that category (The first being from "Since U
Been Gone"). The fifth single from Breakaway,
"Walk Away", was a top 20 hit in the U.S. and
a top five hit in Canada. Breakaway spent 103 weeks on
the Billboard 200.
It fell out of the Billboard 200 in late November and
was moved to Billboard's Pop Catalog. Breakaway was the
tenth best selling album of 2006 in the US, adding
nearly 2 million additional sales to the 2005 and 2004
sales. As a testament to Clarkson's continuing
popularity, she was the most-played artist of 2006 on
American radio, despite releasing only one single in the
entire year, "Walk Away". On December 23,
2006, American Top 40 radio show host Ryan Seacrest
announced during a countdown of 2006's most popular
songs that Clarkson had had a song in the American Top
40 for 111 weeks, making her "the most successful
female artist in AT40 history". She was also the
most radio broadcasted artist of 2006 in Australia and
"Because Of You" was the third most broadcast
song of the same year, despite being released in 2005.
In the summer of 2006, Clarkson lent Ford Motor Co. a
song titled "Go", written by Clarkson and
Rhett Lawrence ("Miss Independent"). The song
is being used in the company's new advertising campaign,
"Bold Moves".
2006-Present: My December: While on tour in
Europe in 2006, Clarkson began writing and composing
songs for her third album, My December. Three possible
new songs from her upcoming CD were performed during the
Addicted Tour, including "Maybe,"
"Anymore," and "Yeah". It is
possible that it also may include the hit Ford
Commercial song, "Go". Recording commenced on
the album in the summer of 2006; one of the guest
musicians on the album is punk rock legend Mike Watt
(Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Iggy Pop & The Stooges), who
contributes his bass skills to six tracks on the disc.
According to Music Week and HMV, My December will be
released June 26, 2007.
In addition to her roles as spokeswoman for the acne
treatment Proactiv and Vitamin Water, Clarkson has
partnered with NASCAR for the 2007 season. She will
appear in televised advertising spots, perform at
pre-race concerts, promote NASCAR Day and appear at the
Champions' Banquet in December. Clarkson has also been
confirmed to perform at one of the series of Live Earth
dates on July 7, helping to bring awareness to the
climate change crisis.
On February 18, Clarkson debuted the song "One
Minute" at the Daytona 500.
The first single from My December is Never Again, which
made its radio debut on April 13, 2007. The song was
released on iTunes on April 20, 2007 but was taken down
and replaced with a notice that said that the song was
not available until April 23, 2007.
Clarkson and Reba McEntire recorded an hour-long CMT
Crossroads special at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium
on February 22, 2007. It is scheduled to debut on CMT
and MHD in Fall 2007. Previously, Clarkson was a
performer on CMT's Giants: Reba McEntire. where she sang
McEntire's hit song "Why Haven't I Heard From
You", introduced Dolly Parton, and later also sang
Reba's hit Does He Love You? with Martina McBride.
Clarkson also appeared on an episode of McEntire's
sitcom Reba, which aired on January 14, 2007. Clarkson
and McEntire sang a duet of Clarkson's 2005 single,
"Because of You", which will be the lead
single from McEntire's upcoming album of all-star duets
on the Academy of Country Music Awards on May 16, 2007.
Clarkson performed "Never Again" on the season
six finale of American Idol on May 23, 2007.
Further reading: Clarkson's name has been
mentioned in two songs: The Jonas Brothers' remake of
Busted's "Year 3000", and in the remix of
"You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse
featuring Ghostface Killah.
In the 2005 film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Steve Carell's
character screams out "Aaaahh! Kelly
Clarkson!" after getting his chest waxed. This line
was not scripted, but was featured in the film and its
theatrical trailer.
Clarkson performed "What Hurts the Most", with
Rascal Flatts, at ACM Awards in 2006 and will return
again to sing a duet with Reba McEntire in 2007. This is
her second performance on a country music award show,
even though she is in the Pop/Rock genre.
On April 25, 2007, Clarkson appeared on Idol Gives Back
and performed Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain
(MLK Song)". After the performance, the audience
who watched Clarkson perform live gave her a standing
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