Kelly Clarkson was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Clarkson's parents divorced when she was six, and her mother later re-married, to Jimmy Taylor. Clarkson's ambition was to become a marine biologist, but reportedly she changed her mind after seeing the movie Jaws! Kelly sang in choir in middle school, and graduated from Burleson High School. While at Burleson, Clarkson appeared in several musicals, such as Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Brigadoon.
Kelly soon began classical vocal training. She was offered full scholarships to the University of Texas, University of North Texas, and Berklee College of Music, but she turned them all down, deciding instead to begin her career. Clarkson worked several jobs to raise the money to record a demo, but received little response from the brain-dead record companies. She did get offers from two minor labels, Jive Records and Interscope Records, but they wanted to promote her as a bubblegum singer.
Kelly believed something better would present itself, and boy was she right. In 2001, she moved to Los Angeles to advance her career. She appeared as an extra in television shows such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Dharma & Greg. Clarkson worked with Gerry Goffin to record a new demo. But when nothing developed, Kelly moved back to Burleson.
When she came home, Kelly's friends suggested she audition for the inaugural season of a new reality television series, American Idol, in 2002. With the world watching, Clarkson won the competition on September 4 to become the original Idol winner. She signed record deals with RCA, 19 Recordings, and S Records through arrangements by talent manager Simon Fuller, creator of American Idol.
"A Moment Like This" became the top-selling single of the year, and was also #1 in Canada. It won a Billboard Music Award for Best-Selling Single of the Year. Clarkson finished in the runner-up spot behind Kurt Nilsen (I know, who??) in the World Idol competition.
Clarkson was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and a World Music Award for Best New Female Artist, while "Miss Independent" captured MTV Video Music Awards for Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice Award and Best New Artist in a Video. Clarkson also won an ASCAP Pop Music Songwriter Award.
Thankful has sold over two million copies in the U.S. and 4.5 million worldwide. Just as "A Moment Like This" had done, "Miss Independent" also sold over one million copies and Clarkson was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The follow-up single, "Low", was #2 in Canada, but that was its only major success. A further single, "The Trouble with Love Is", was included in the great movie Love Actually.
Clarkson made her movie debut in From Justin to Kelly in June.
Breakaway proved she made a good choice in changing direction, as the album sold six million copies in the United States (the third-biggest seller of the year) and it is now over 15 million units worldwide. Clarkson was rewarded with a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and American Music Awards for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist and the Text-In Award for Artist of the Year. She was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the American Music Awards and Breakaway earned a nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Album. Clarkson was also nominated for World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist at the World Music Awards.
Clarkson dominated the Billboard Music Awards, winning 12 trophies including Billboard 200 Female Artist, Hot Adult Contemporary Artist, Adult Contemporary Artist, Hot 100 Female Artist, Pop 100 Artist of the Year, Pop 100 Female Artist, Hot Adult Contemporary Song and Top Soundtrack Single (for "Breakaway") and Hot Dance Radio Airplay Artist, and nominated for four others including Hot 100 Artist of the Year, Hot Digital Song Artist and Hot Digital Track Artist.
The single "Walk Away" was a moderate hit from Kelly's debut. In 2005, Clarkson performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and also performed during the baseball All-Star Game and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Clarkson won American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, a rare double win for an artist, and she also captured the People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Performer.
My December has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. But further singles, "Sober", "One Minute" and "Don't Waste Your Time" only received spotty airplay. In 2007, Clarkson appeared in commercials for NASCAR and performed at pre-race concerts. In 2008, Kelly performed "Ave Maria" for Pope Benedict XVI following a speech by the Pope in New York.
Clarkson paired with her friend Reba McEntire for an hour-long CMT Crossroads special. The two sang a duet of "Because of You" at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the single was a #2 Country song and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Kelly and Reba also went on the 2 Worlds, 2 Voices Tour to support the song and McEntire's album.
Kelly broke a record when the single surpassed Britney Spears' "Womanizer" for the biggest leap to #1 (jumping from 97-1), a Rock Era record that still stands and the second time Clarkson broke the record. The song also topped charts in the U.K. and Canada, and reached #3 in the Netherlands, #4 in Ireland, #5 in Australia and Switzerland and #6 in Germany and Austria. Kelly won another Most Performed Song of the Year Award from ASCAP and Clarkson's video was nominated for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Clarkson supported the album with a worldwide tour in 2009 and 2010. All I Ever Wanted has sold just shy of one million copies in the U.S. and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. The follow-up, "I Do Not Hook Up", was a mid-charter in most countries, although it did reach #9 in Australia. RCA and Kelly got into another dispute, leading to lack of promotion of her singles "All I Ever Wanted" and "Cry".
Clarkson was one of the top performers on VH1 Divas in 2009, and she was a guest mentor on the Dutch television show X Factor. She recorded a duet with Jason Aldean on the song "Don't You Wanna' Stay" for his album My Kinda' Party in 2010. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, and is now the best-selling country collaboration in history.
Stronger has gone over one million in sales in the U.S. and captured the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. Clarkson was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist at the American Music Awards.
Clarkson is nominated for five World Music Awards: World's Best Female Artist, World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist, World's Best Entertainer of the Year, World's Best Live Act and Worlds Best Song (for "Stronger").
Clarkson performed the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XLVI to widespread acclaim, and then performed "My Country, 'Tis Of Thee" at the second inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama.
Kelly released her first Christmas album, Wrapped in Red, last year. She will release an album of Country music this year, followed by her eighth studio album later in 2014.
Clarkson has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, and has achieved 11 #1 songs in countries around the world. Kelly has scored 15 Top 40 hits, with an incredible 12 of those reaching the Top 10. She has won three Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards and a Women's World Award.
Kelly soon began classical vocal training. She was offered full scholarships to the University of Texas, University of North Texas, and Berklee College of Music, but she turned them all down, deciding instead to begin her career. Clarkson worked several jobs to raise the money to record a demo, but received little response from the brain-dead record companies. She did get offers from two minor labels, Jive Records and Interscope Records, but they wanted to promote her as a bubblegum singer.
Kelly believed something better would present itself, and boy was she right. In 2001, she moved to Los Angeles to advance her career. She appeared as an extra in television shows such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Dharma & Greg. Clarkson worked with Gerry Goffin to record a new demo. But when nothing developed, Kelly moved back to Burleson.
When she came home, Kelly's friends suggested she audition for the inaugural season of a new reality television series, American Idol, in 2002. With the world watching, Clarkson won the competition on September 4 to become the original Idol winner. She signed record deals with RCA, 19 Recordings, and S Records through arrangements by talent manager Simon Fuller, creator of American Idol.
Clarkson gave a spectacular performance of "A Moment Like This" upon being named as the Idol winner, and she released the song as a single to capitalize on the bright spotlight that had been shone on her. In its third week, the single moved from #52 to #1, breaking the record for the biggest jump to number one that had been set by the Beatles 38 years previous, when their song "Can't Buy Me Love" went from 27-1.
"A Moment Like This" became the top-selling single of the year, and was also #1 in Canada. It won a Billboard Music Award for Best-Selling Single of the Year. Clarkson finished in the runner-up spot behind Kurt Nilsen (I know, who??) in the World Idol competition.
Music mogul Clive Davis handled production on Kelly's debut album Thankful, released in 2003. The album debuted at #1 on the Album chart, and the lead single "Miss Independent" hit the Top 10 in five countries, including #3 in Australia, #6 in the U.K. and #9 in the U.S.
Clarkson was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and a World Music Award for Best New Female Artist, while "Miss Independent" captured MTV Video Music Awards for Best Pop Video, Viewer's Choice Award and Best New Artist in a Video. Clarkson also won an ASCAP Pop Music Songwriter Award.
Thankful has sold over two million copies in the U.S. and 4.5 million worldwide. Just as "A Moment Like This" had done, "Miss Independent" also sold over one million copies and Clarkson was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The follow-up single, "Low", was #2 in Canada, but that was its only major success. A further single, "The Trouble with Love Is", was included in the great movie Love Actually.
Clarkson made her movie debut in From Justin to Kelly in June.
Clarkson reinvented herself with her second album Breakaway in 2004, moving towards a rock-oriented sound and co-writing six of the tracks. She also left Fuller and hired Jeff Kwatinetz to be her manager. Clarkson released the title song as the lead single, which hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for an incredible 28 weeks and landed at #6 overall. The single also reached #8 in Austria, #9 in the Netherlands and #10 in Australia.
Breakaway proved she made a good choice in changing direction, as the album sold six million copies in the United States (the third-biggest seller of the year) and it is now over 15 million units worldwide. Clarkson was rewarded with a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album and American Music Awards for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist and the Text-In Award for Artist of the Year. She was nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the American Music Awards and Breakaway earned a nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Album. Clarkson was also nominated for World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist at the World Music Awards.
Clarkson dominated the Billboard Music Awards, winning 12 trophies including Billboard 200 Female Artist, Hot Adult Contemporary Artist, Adult Contemporary Artist, Hot 100 Female Artist, Pop 100 Artist of the Year, Pop 100 Female Artist, Hot Adult Contemporary Song and Top Soundtrack Single (for "Breakaway") and Hot Dance Radio Airplay Artist, and nominated for four others including Hot 100 Artist of the Year, Hot Digital Song Artist and Hot Digital Track Artist.
The single "Since U (sic) Been Gone", peaked at #2 in the United States, #3 in Australia and Austria, #4 in New Zealand and Ireland, #5 in the U.K., #6 in Germany and #7 in Switzerland. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Billboard Music Awards for Pop 100 Single and Pop 100 Airplay Single. Clarkson also won two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video and Best Pop Video and was nominated for a Viewer's Choice Award.
Clarkson went on a successful world tour to promote the album. She scored a third hit from the album with "Behind These Hazel Eyes", which reached #4 in Ireland, and was a #6 song in the U.S. and Australia, #7 in the Netherlands and New Zealand and #9 in the U.K. ASCAP rewarded Clarkson with a Most Performed Song honor as well.
The single "Because Of You" shot up to #1 in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark, and was #2 in Canada, #3 in Austria, #4 in Australia and Germany, #5 in Ireland and #7 in the U.S. and the U.K. It was nominated for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the Grammy Awards and Clarkson earned ASCAP Pop Music Awards for Song of the Year and Most Performed Song and an MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video and a nomination for Viewer's Choice Award.
The single "Walk Away" was a moderate hit from Kelly's debut. In 2005, Clarkson performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and also performed during the baseball All-Star Game and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Clarkson won American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, a rare double win for an artist, and she also captured the People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Performer.
Clarkson assumed creative control of her third album My December in 2007, writing all the songs. The album debuted at #2, but ran into promotion problems from RCA when Kelly had a disagreement with Davis, who wanted a more mainstream sound. Clarkson later hired a new talent manager, Narvel Blackstock. The single "Never Again" peaked at #8 in the U.S. and peaked at #5 in Australia, #8 in Canada and #9 in the U.K.
My December has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. But further singles, "Sober", "One Minute" and "Don't Waste Your Time" only received spotty airplay. In 2007, Clarkson appeared in commercials for NASCAR and performed at pre-race concerts. In 2008, Kelly performed "Ave Maria" for Pope Benedict XVI following a speech by the Pope in New York.
Clarkson paired with her friend Reba McEntire for an hour-long CMT Crossroads special. The two sang a duet of "Because of You" at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the single was a #2 Country song and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Kelly and Reba also went on the 2 Worlds, 2 Voices Tour to support the song and McEntire's album.
Clarkson released the album All I Ever Wanted in 2009. Kelly returned to a more mainstream sound on the album, and it was received positively by critics. The album debuted at #1 and the lead single, "My Life Would Suck Without You" was an international smash.
Kelly broke a record when the single surpassed Britney Spears' "Womanizer" for the biggest leap to #1 (jumping from 97-1), a Rock Era record that still stands and the second time Clarkson broke the record. The song also topped charts in the U.K. and Canada, and reached #3 in the Netherlands, #4 in Ireland, #5 in Australia and Switzerland and #6 in Germany and Austria. Kelly won another Most Performed Song of the Year Award from ASCAP and Clarkson's video was nominated for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Clarkson supported the album with a worldwide tour in 2009 and 2010. All I Ever Wanted has sold just shy of one million copies in the U.S. and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. The follow-up, "I Do Not Hook Up", was a mid-charter in most countries, although it did reach #9 in Australia. RCA and Kelly got into another dispute, leading to lack of promotion of her singles "All I Ever Wanted" and "Cry".
Clarkson was one of the top performers on VH1 Divas in 2009, and she was a guest mentor on the Dutch television show X Factor. She recorded a duet with Jason Aldean on the song "Don't You Wanna' Stay" for his album My Kinda' Party in 2010. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, and is now the best-selling country collaboration in history.
Clarkson released the album Stronger in 2011. It debuted at #2 on the Album chart. The lead single, "Mr. Know It All" rose to #1 in Australia, and peaked at #4 in the U.K., #8 in New Zealand and #10 in the United States. Clarkson won a sixth Most Performed Songs of the Year Award from ASCAP.
Stronger has gone over one million in sales in the U.S. and captured the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. Clarkson was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist at the American Music Awards.
Kelly achieved another #1 song when the title cut reached that position in the United States and it was #3 in Canada, #4 in New Zealand and Ireland, #6 in Austria and #8 in the U.K. The enduring "Stronger" was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards and captured an ASCAP Pop Music Award for Most Performed Songs of the Year.
Clarkson promoted the album with two world tours, but although the single "Dark Side" wasn't able to continue the momentum, Clarkson recaptured it with the release of her Greatest Hits-Chapter One album. The new song "Catch My Breath" was Clarkson's eleventh million-selling single, reaching a peak of #19 in the United States.
Clarkson is nominated for five World Music Awards: World's Best Female Artist, World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist, World's Best Entertainer of the Year, World's Best Live Act and Worlds Best Song (for "Stronger").
Clarkson performed the U.S. national anthem at Super Bowl XLVI to widespread acclaim, and then performed "My Country, 'Tis Of Thee" at the second inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama.
Kelly released her first Christmas album, Wrapped in Red, last year. She will release an album of Country music this year, followed by her eighth studio album later in 2014.
Clarkson has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, and has achieved 11 #1 songs in countries around the world. Kelly has scored 15 Top 40 hits, with an incredible 12 of those reaching the Top 10. She has won three Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards and a Women's World Award.
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