Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson was an American singer, reality TV show contest and talk show host who was best known for winning the inaugural season of "American Idol" (Fox/ABC, 2002-2016, 2018- ). Clarkson was born and raised in Texas. She was the youngest of three children and grew up in devoutly Christian family. Some of Clarkson's earliest memories are of attending church on Sundays (she and her family were practicing Southern Baptists). Clarkson's parents divorced when she was 6, so Kelly went to live with her mother in Burleson, Texas. It was while attending junior high in Burleson that Clarkson first realized she had a gift for singing. Although she never took a singing lesson, Kelly would often sing to herself while walking the halls between classes. On one such occasion the school's choir teacher caught notice of her powerful vocal range, and asked Kelly to audition for the school's choir. Kelly did, and was easily given a spot. As a member of the choir, Clarkson easily stood out, and before long was showing off her vocal chops in school musicals and talent shows. Clarkson proved to be such a once-in-a-lifetime talent, that upon graduating from Burleson High School she was offered full ride scholarships to some of the most prestigious colleges in the country, including the University of Texas at Austin and the Berklee College of Music. Clarkson turned all the scholarships down, however, and instead decide to push forward in making a career in music on her own terms. She was eventually offered recording contracts by Jive Records and Interscope, but turned both down because she felt they were pigeonholing her as a bubblegum pop act. Then in 2001 Clarkson moved to Los Angeles to try an add some rocket fuel to her fledgling music career. Clarkson worked a number of odd jobs during her brief sojourn in L.A., and even made ends meet by working as a TV extra. However, Clarkson's repeated efforts to launch her music career while living in Hollywood proved fruitless, as just about every record company she auditioned for turned her down. Having been humbled the realities of the music industry, Clarkson moved back to Burleson. She once again worked odd jobs to pay the bills, while contemplating her future. Then in early 2002 she was told by her friends about a new reality singing competition series called "American Idol." The show was holding nationwide auditions, and Clarkson's friends encouraged her to audition. After agreeing to do so, albeit begrudgingly, Clarkson earned a spot in the first round, and quickly proved herself to the judges as one of the competition's standouts. After months of grueling auditions before a national TV audience, Kelly Clarkson consistently wowed both the judges and viewers at home. When Clarkson was announced as the winner of the first season of "American Idol" in September of 2002, she also took home a $1 million recording contract. Clarkson's first double-A-side single, "Before You Love / A Moment Like This," was released shortly after and shot up to the top of the charts to become the best-selling single of 2002. After winning "American Idol" Kelly Clarkson's music career took off. Despite appearing alongside Justin Guarini, the runner-up of "American Idol," in the 2003 box office dud "From Justin to Kelly," she went on to release a number of well-received albums throughout the 2000s and 2010s, including Breakaway (2004), All I Ever Wanted (2009), and Stronger (2011). She would go on to sell over 25 million albums worldwide, while going on to earn two Grammys in the process, making her one of the most successful pop artists of the 21 Century. In addition to her music career, by the late 2010s Clarkson was starting to appear more frequently on television. After serving as an advisor on the NBC singing competition show "The Voice" (NBC, 2011- ), she became one of the show's coaches in 2017. Furthermore, in September of 2019 Clarkson began hosting the daytime variety TV talk show "The Kelly Clarkson Show" (Syndication/Bravo, 2019- ). The show premiered in first-run syndication in September of 2019, while also airing on Bravo the same day as part of its overnight programming. Although Kelly Clarkson had a long career as a singer, the show was her first foray into hosting a variety talk show.