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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.
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.[citation needed] 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 burnt 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.[10] 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".[23] 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. Kelly Clarkson will sing a duet with Reba on the Academy of Country Music Awards. Clarkson and McEntire will sing a cover of Clarkson's 2005 single, "Because of You," which will be the lead single from Reba's upcoming album of all-star duets.
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