Music
Kelly Clarkson opens up about the pain that inspired her post-divorce album
Although ‘Chemistry’ won’t be released until June 23, Kelly Clarkson admits performing songs from the album is already proving emotional.
Kelly Clarkson has opened up about the difficulties she has already faced when it comes to singing songs from her upcoming album, ‘Chemistry’, in a live setting.
The album is set to be released on June 23, 2023, though Clarkson gave fans a preview of what is to come at a recent Los Angeles concert as she celebrated her 41st birthday.
“The emotions kind of murdered me,” Clarkson told Entertainment Weekly one week after the concert.
During the show, Clarkson had to pause and regain her composure when performing ‘Skip This Part’.
“I’m sorry y’all,” she told the crowd, before joking with the string section surrounding her on stage. “If y’all weren’t so damn good!”
Clarkson told the outlet that rehearsals went great, and that she was proud of herself before the show.
“And then all of a sudden it was just like a wave washed over me,” said Clarkson.
Clarkson’s upcoming album is an emotional one
Although Clarkson released the Christmas album ‘When Christmas Comes Arond...’ in 2021, ‘Chemistry’ will be her first non-themed entry since her divorce from Brandon Blackstock.
The two were married for almost seven years, but decided to go their separate ways a few months into the pandemic.
Clarkson has called the album her most personal yet, having previously stated that she wrote about 60 songs while going through the public divorce.
In an interview with Variety in September 2022, Clarkson talked about the songwriting process she went through, which spanned two years.
“A lot of those are the ones that are on the album,” said Clarkson. “I literally wrote most of these almost two years ago.
“Then I told my label, “I can’t talk about this until I’ve gone through it,” and it’s just taken some time to do that. That’s one of the reasons we’ve done a lot of Christmas stuff the past two years — because I was like, “Well, that’s happy!”
Clarkson says she can’t wait to share the new music with fans, especially those who can relate to its lyrical content.
“No matter what album you’re listening to, it is kind of nice to have these people that went through stuff that other people are going through, and you just don’t feel alone in it,” she told Entertaiment Weekly.
“Because I’ll tell you what, that’s the worst: when you’re in a crowded room or you’re smiling for America while doing your job and you just feel so sad and alone. That’s the worst feeling ever.”