Kelly Clarkson has signed on with the March of Dimes as our first celebrity ambassador for Team Youth. Kelly is helping the March of Dimes raise awareness about the growing problem of premature birth and to encourage young people to get involved. Join Kelly's efforts to make a difference!
If Kelly Clarkson had to describe how she feels about the course of events that has led to where she is today, she would say “Thankful,” which is exactly what she has decided to title her debut CD.
The twenty-one year old from Texas had her life transformed when, in September of 2002, the American viewing public voted her the winner of the first season of American Idol. In a story that has been well documented, Kelly performed and competed live each week throughout the summer in a series of musical genres to an audience that often topped 35 million people. In a finale that had an estimated viewership of over 50 million, her victory was a resounding one with 57% of the votes going her way.
In Kelly’s earlier years, singing was such a natural and normal part of life. She never realized that she had something special. The enormity and beauty of her voice was recognized quite by accident.
At 13 years old, a late bloomer by choral standards, Kelly was singing to herself in the corridor at Pauline Hughes Middle School in Burleson, Texas, when a teacher asked her to consider joining the choir. “Nobody really realized I had a talent until I got in there. My teacher really pushed me since I was behind everyone else who had been doing it since 4th grade. From there on, I had a niche.”
Her classical training through the choir was, as she describes it, “fundamental to me being able to use my voice and adapt it to different styles of music”. With her own idols ranging from Bette Midler and Reba McIntyre to Gwen Stefani and Aerosmith, her wide range of vocal style is not surprising. Her talents developed quickly, and before long she was wooing audiences in state and regional competitions. During this time, she supported herself working odd jobs in such diverse places as the hometown movie theater, a pharmacy, and the local zoo.
It was a strange twist of fate that ultimately put Kelly on the path to American Idol. After graduation from high school, Kelly moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of a career as a singer. This, unfortunately, came to an abrupt halt when her apartment burned down leaving her nearly destitute and facing a 24 hour drive back home. Upon her return, it was her best friend Jessica who suggested Kelly try out for American Idol. Knowing nothing about it, Kelly went to the audition. "I went and tried out for fun, and here I am!" Here she is indeed.
Following her American Idol win, she achieves superstar status when her double A sided debut single A Moment Like This/Before Your Love broke chart records in its first official week of release. With it's jump from 52-1, it achieved the biggest jump to number 1 in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. With a first week sales of 236,000 units, it became the first single since 1999 to sell over 200,000 units.
Just a few short weeks after the finale, with the single firmly entrenched on the charts, Kelly hit the road headlining the American Idol Tour, a thirty date, seven week arena tour. Each night she performed to over 20,000 people, many of whom had voted her as their American idol.
Her achievements do not stop there. She graced the covers of such publications as Entertainment Weekly, US Weekly, YM, and Seventeen. Cosmopolitan Magazine named her one of their Fun, Fearless Females of 2003 while People magazine also named her one of their 25 Most Intriguing People.
Working closely with album Executive Producer and music legend Clive Davis and her Manager, American Idol creator Simon Fuller, Kelly has recorded a debut album that showcases a talent that was only hinted at on the television show. It is a stunning tour de force that features contributions from the best song writers and Producers in the business today. Acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren contributed the beautiful ballad Some Kind of Miracle while distinguished writers/producers Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds (Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston), and Matthew Wilder (Christina Aguilera, No Doubt) are featured among others. It has been described as a soulful journey through Clarkson’s extraordinary range of musical styles.
The album's first single Miss Independent was Produced by Rhett Lawrence and was written in part by Kelly herself. In fact, Kelly wrote or co-wrote four of the tracks on the album including The Trouble With Love Is, Thankful, and You Thought Wrong a wicked duet sung with American Idol co-finalist and close friend Tamyra Gray which was co-produced by Babyface and The Underdogs (Justin Timberlake).
As if the music career wasn't enough, Simon Fuller struck a feature film deal with Fox Pictures allowing Kelly to showcase her acting and singing and dancing talents with American Idol runner up Justin Guarini. The movie features several musical production numbers and one of the songs from the film, Anytime, is included on Thankful. Due to hit theaters nationwide on June 10, From Justin to Kelly was directed by Robert Iscove (She's All That).
Kelly states, “I’m not materialistic, but I am ambitious. I’d love to break globally and can’t wait to go to England. There is so much ahead of me and so much I want to accomplish. It all seems to be happening so quickly that I have to force myself to stop and realize how truly Thankful I am.
