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Kelly Clarkson

In September 2002, Kelly Clarkson sang herself into the hearts of a nation. Performing live on television for a viewership that grew in ten weeks to create ratings history, the twenty-year-old Texan outshone 10,000 other contestants to be voted one of the top ten. Despite never having had a formal singing lesson, she went on to earn 57% of the vote in the final head-to-head to become the first American Idol.

Kelly Clarkson is a natural. Her incredible singing voice is so much a part of who she is that she never realized she had something so special. In fact, the enormity of her talent and the beauty of her voice was recognized quite by accident.

At age 13 – a late bloomer by choral standards – Kelly was singing to herself in the corridor at Pauline Hughes Middle School in Burleson, Texas, when one of her teachers heard her and invited her to join the choir. With the other students having been singing since the fourth grade, the music teacher pushed her hard to catch up. From that point on, she knew she'd found her niche.

The training she received in the choir allowed her to use her voice and adapt it to many different styles of music. Before long, she was entered in state and regional competitions, all the while working a string of jobs as a waitress, a pharmacy assistant and at a movie theatre and even at the zoo.

Kelly moved to Los Angeles and started sending out a demo tape to try to get her start in the music business. When her apartment building burned down in an accidental fire, she was left nearly destitute and decided to go home. Ironically, it was there that fate stepped in to turn her life around.

Kelly's best friend Jessica was determined that Kelly not give up on her dream. It was Jessica who knew about American Idol and convinced Kelly to try out for the show. She continued to compete with her incredible voice as she moved up the ranks to the top ten. Her life suddenly went into fast-forward, working seven days a week to shine for the weekly live television performances over a ten-week period of time. It was her crowning win that catapulted her to stardom and the start of what has already become an amazing career.

Influenced by such diverse talents as Bette Midler, Reba McIntyre, Gwen Stefani and Aerosmith, she has an innate ability to perform a huge variety of singing styles. Signed to 19 Entertainment and RCA, her debutA Moment Like This/Before Your Love double-A side single smashed into number one in the Billboard charts and broke two world records in its very first week of release. She joined the final 10 American Idol contestants in a 30-date/seven week arena tour from Seattle to New York playing to over 200,000 fans.

Her 2003 album showcases the diversity of her voice and her ability to bare her soul performing material written in collaboration with some of today's greatest songwriters such as Rhett Lawrence and Walter Afanasieff.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2003.

Kelly Clarkson Facts

Birth Name Kelly Brianne Clarkson
OccupationMusician, Actress
BirthdayApril 24, 1982 (41)
SignTaurus
BirthplaceBurleson, Texas, USA
Height5' 4" (1m63)  How tall is Kelly Clarkson compared to you?
Social Media kelly_clarkson

Selected Filmography

From Justin To Kelly
Issues 101
Night Train to Georgia
The Safety of Objects
Exclusive Q & A with Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson: Behind Hazel Eyes
Broke*
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