Kelly Clarkson is no stranger to being honest in her lyrics and appears to be making a new album about heartbreak.
The former American Idol winner’s next LP will be her ninth studio album and her first since 2017’s Meaning of Life.
In June of 2020, it was announced that she and her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, had filed for divorce after being married for seven years. Like a lot of songwriters, Clarkson’s lyrics often reflect on what’s been going on in her life at any given time. Her upcoming album seemingly won’t be any different.
‘An insane amount of getting it out’
In a new interview, the talk show host exclusively told Entertainment Tonight she wrote around 60 songs during her divorce process.
“I have this record that we’re working on. It’s really great and really honest,” The Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) hitmaker said. “There’s just a lot of questions that I have to answer before releasing it for myself, you know? Whether that be business-wise or personally or whatever. Whatever happens though, it is such a gift. Like, I don’t know how anybody, I’ll just be real with you, goes through grief like divorce, any kind of grief, any kind of loss, without having an outlet like this.”
“I have written like 60 songs, it is an insane amount of getting it out. I think that’s a blessing in itself,” Clarkson continued. “Anytime you go through some life, it’s such an awesome thing to have that outlet, regardless of whether people hear it or not.”
Before tying the knot with Clarkson, Blackstock already had two children — Seth Blackstock and Savannah Blackstock — with his first wife, Melissa Ashworth. After marrying Clarkson, Blackstock had two more kids with the powerhouse vocalist — River Rose Blackstock and Remington Alexander Blackstock.
Clarkson admits that John Legend’s album was very therapeutic for her
Clarkson explained that when writing personal songs, she questions whether she wants to put them out there into the world. While some of her biggest hits — Because of You and Piece By Piece — helped her achieve great success, she hates that she had to go through those things in the first place.
Clarkson revealed that John Legend’s latest album, Bigger Love, helped her during the divorce process. The three-time Grammy Award winner admitted she listened to it at a time when she was feeling hopeless, which ended up becoming a healing moment for the songstress.
“I literally was going through the worst moments of my emotional life. And his record, it’s not like a Joni Mitchell [album], or Jagged Little Pill, it’s the complete opposite of that. It’s all about that kind of love that you find, that kind of connection you find, and it was so helpful for me,” she said.
Legend’s Bigger Love earned himself a nomination for Best R&B Album at this year’s Grammy Awards.