World superstar
Kelly Clarkson 
is set to release Greatest Hits Chapter 1 on November 19th. This greatest hits compilation will feature three new tracks from Clarkson as well as a compilation of some of her greatest hits to date.
Kelly's new single, "Catch My Breath" is co-written by Clarkson, Jason Halbert and Eric Olson. She states, "This song represents who I've been, what I've felt, and where I'm headed as not only an artist but as a 30 year old that is now smart enough to know that it's time to stop, catch my breath, and be proud of not only what has been accomplished but of all the people that have helped me become the woman I am today."
Since bursting onto the music scene 10 years ago, Kelly Clarkson has released 5 studio albums (Thankful, Breakaway, My December, All I Ever Wanted, Stronger), sold over 20 million albums worldwide, 10 million albums in the US and has had 10 singles in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. She is the recipient of 2 Grammy Awards, 4 American Music Awards, 3 MTV Video Music Awards, 2 Academy of Country Music Awards, 1 Country Music Association Award and 12 Billboard Music Awards.
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In a story about “Mr. Know It All” — the first single off Kelly
Clarkson’s new album Stronger — Entertainment Weekly calls the
multi-platinum singer and songwriter “the samurai of shooting guys
down.” Indeed Clarkson has earned herself millions of devoted fans
thanks to her feisty, straight-talking lyrics. Clarkson’s hits such as
“Miss Independent,” “Since U Been Gone,” “Walk Away,” “Never Again,”
and now “Mr. Know It All,” are bold empowerment anthems, which she sells
to the fullest with her soulful, powerhouse voice and down-to-earth
relatability.
The vibrant, musically diverse Stronger (which
Clarkson says was influenced by Tina Turner, Prince, Sheryl Crow, and
Radiohead) will thrill those who love Clarkson for her resilience. The
album is filled with candid, emotionally raw tunes like “The War Is
Over,” “Darkside,” and “Honestly,” as well as “You Love Me” (in which
Clarkson witheringly tells an ex “you’re not good enough”), “Einstein”
(the cad in question is dismissed with “Here’s your keys, your bags,
your clothes, and now get out of my place”), and the title track, which
finds Clarkson putting a fresh spin
on Nietzsche’s adage that what
doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and declaring “it doesn’t mean I’m
over ’cause you’re gone.” That fact that these gutsy sentiments are
wrapped in fizzy pop melodies, bright choruses, and driving
dancefloor-friendly beats (crafted by such A-list producers as Rodney
Jerkins, Greg Kurstin, Josh Abraham, and Toby Gad) only makes them that
much more appealing.
“The whole album is very much about strength
and empowerment, so ‘Stronger’ felt like the perfect title,” Clarkson
says. “Plus that song is just a gold mine — it's a little bit pop, a
little bit pop-rock, a little bit urban, a little bit dance, and it ties
everything in. And everybody loves that message. ‘What doesn't kill you
makes you stronger.’ It's a perfect representation of my life.”
Clarkson’s
life has had its share of challenges. Her parents divorced when she was
six and her mother struggled financially to raise Kelly and her older
siblings. “My mom had to do everything on her own,” Clarkson says. “She
put herself through school. It was really hard. I think watching that
molded me into this person who wants to relay a message to women
everywhere that they’re capable of doing whatever they set their mind
to. It made an impact on me even though I didn’t know it at the time.
Now I see it while I’m making these songs that I hope will inspire
people.”
She may not have known how her early life would shape her
artistry, but Clarkson did understand the emotional power of music from
a young age. She was first drawn to singing at age eight after an
eye-opening visit to an African-American church in Fort Worth. “I was
like, ‘Wow, whatever they're feeling, I want to feel it too,’” she
recalls. When Clarkson was in junior high school, a music teacher heard
her singing in the hallway and encouraged her to join the choir. “When
you’re a kid and you find something you’re good at, you cling to it.
People would say nice things and that gave me confidence. Everybody
always asks me what I would do if I weren’t singing and I have no clue,
because I have no other talents,” she says with a laugh.
As is
well known by now,
Kelly Clarkson first appeared on the public’s radar in 2002
during the first season of American Idol. “When I auditioned, my
apartment in Los Angeles had recently burned down and I had a box of
photographs to my name,” Clarkson says. “I figured I’d get to sing and
make some money to pay the bills. Nobody thought that show was going to
be what it is now.” Of course Clarkson won and went on to become an
international pop icon, selling over 20 million albums worldwide
(including 10 million in the U.S.) and notching seven singles on the Top
10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She has released four studio albums,
2003’s double-platinum No. 1 Thankful, 2004’s 6x-platinum Breakaway
(which sold over 12 million copies worldwide, spawned five Top 10 hits,
and stayed on the charts for two years), 2007’s platinum-selling My
December, and 2009’s All I Ever Wanted, which debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard Top 200 and produced the smash singles “My Life Would Suck
Without You” and “Already Gone.” Clarkson has also received two Grammy
Awards, two American Music Awards, two MTV Music Awards, and 11
Billboard Music Awards.
With all those accolades, it’s tempting to
wonder why Clarkson is continually drawn to songs about overcoming
challenges. “I think I gravitate toward songs with a defiant message
because I always feel like I’m fighting just to be me,” she says.
“That’s why I tend to write or choose songs about how just being you is
okay. People associate me with break-up songs, but most of the time the
song isn’t even about a guy. I never write about one particular thing. I
always relate the topic to different situations in my life, whether
it’s family, friends, or work. That’s what makes the songs connect on a
broader level.”
Clarkson co-wrote five tracks on Stronger, a
process she feels is therapeutic. Her favorite song on the album is “You
Love Me,” which she says she wrote following an incident that she
thought would break her. “It was probably the most hurt I’ve ever been
in my life,” she admits. “But by writing about it, I got to work through
it and get it out of my system.” The remainder of the songs were
written by a host of A-list songsmiths, including Rodney Jerkins, Ester
Dean, Bonnie McKee, and Toby Gad, whom Clarkson says really took the
time to get to know her style. She also credits her producers, Jerkins,
Kurstin, Abraham, and Gad among them, for what she says is the biggest
difference between Stronger and her previous albums.
“What
separates this album are the vocals,” she says. “They sound richer and
fuller, and, for the first time, how I sound when I’m performing live.
The producers I worked with just let me sing and be me. They didn't
strip away the personality. And it was one of those things where if the
people I’m working with have confidence in me, I have more confidence in
myself and that changed everything. I can’t wait to perform these songs
on tour. I think that’s the best way to get to know an artist, and
where you get to see actual personality, because we can't hide much
onstage.”
And how does she think her fans around going to react to
Stronger? “I have an indication that they know they're going to love
it,” she says. “I ran into a fan the other day in Target. It was a mom
and her daughter and they were just like, ‘Oh my God, we don't even care
what you put out if you could just put something out.’ It's funny, they
didn’t even care what it was. I love that people still get excited
about new music.”
The songs are:
1. Since U Been Gone (3:08)
2. My Life Would Suck Without You (3:31)
3. Miss Independent (3:34)
4. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (3:42)
5. Behind These Hazel Eyes (3:16)
6. Because of You (3:40)
7. Never Again (3:36)
8. Already Gone (4:41
9. Mr. Know It All (3:52)
10. Breakaway (3:56)
11. Don't You Wanna Stay (with Jason Aldean) (4:19)
12. Walk Away (3:09)
13. Catch My Breath (4:10)
14. People Like Us (4:18)
15. Don't Rush (featuring Vince Gill) (4:02)
16. A Moment Like This (3:48)
17. I'll Be Home for Christmas (2:53)
