Kelly Clarkson knows the healing power of music. In a press junket for The Voice, the OG American Idol winner revealed she’s written around 60 songs since filing for divorce from Brandon Blackstock last June.
Kelly calls her upcoming record “really great and really honest.”
“I have this record that we’re working on. It’s really great and really honest,” Kelly told Entertainment Tonight. “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,” Kelly continued. “I think that’s a blessing in itself. Anytime you go through some life, it’s such an awesome thing to have that outlet, regardless of whether people hear it or not.”
Kelly had a tough 2020
And Kelly needed an outlet, after a tough 2020. She filed for divorce from her husband of nearly 7 years, Brandon Blackstock, back in June and later won primary custody of their kids River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4.
However, he’s seeking substantial spousal and child support, and his family management company subsequently sued Kelly claiming she owed the company commissions. In turn, she petitioned the California Labor Board, claiming he defrauded her out of millions. And then Blackstock responded.
Anytime that Kelly writes something personal, she told ET, she has to ask herself, “What are you willing to put out there?”
Music has a way of healing you, says Kelly
“I hate that I had to go through ‘Because of You’ or ‘Piece by Piece’ [moments]. Certain songs that I’ve written certainly have shaped me, but have been really hard,” she explained. “They’re just difficult decisions to put those out because they’re so personal. But the other side of you is like, ‘Man, how many people have come up to me.’ Like, ‘You have no idea. I never wanted to talk about it, I never have told anyone this.'”
“Music has that way, even for me,” she said. “I listen to other artists and music has a way of healing you.”
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Kelly shared with ET that fellow coach John Legend’s newest album Bigger Love helped her cope amid her divorce, because the songs aren’t about heartbreak. “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.
“It’s a really important thing that we remember we are a really important vessel for a lot of messages that people need to hear,” she continued. “It was a very therapeutic record for me, which is so interesting, because I was feeling none of those emotions while listening to it. But the hope that’s there is such a beautiful thing.”
The Voice season 20 premieres Monday, March 1 on NBC.
