Kelly Clarkson life and biography

Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the original winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.

In 2003, Clarkson released her debut album, Thankful which was a commercial success and established herself in the pop music industry. The release of its first single, "A Moment Like This" (2002), broke The Beatles' record for the biggest leap to number one, from 52, in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. After parting ways with her management, Clarkson developed a more rock-oriented music with the release of her critically acclaimed sophomore album, Breakaway (2004), which had sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and which garnered Clarkson more worldwide success as a pop rock artist.
The album's single, "Because of You" (2005), became the best-selling single by an Idol contestant worldwide. In 2007 Clarkson took full creative control for her third album My December, which had had a more rock inspired sound and was met with controversy and mild success. Clarkson later returned to a more pop-oriented sound with All I Ever Wanted (2009), which became a commercial and critical success.
The album's lead single, "My Life Would Suck Without You" (2009), currently holds the record for biggest leap to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, breaking her own record of "A Moment Like This" as well as earning her first number 1 single in the United Kingdom. Clarkson is set to release her fifth studio album, Stronger, on October 24, 2011.

In a career spanning almost a decade, Clarkson has become the most successful Idol contestant worldwide, according to Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan. Clarkson's work also gained her numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and a Women's World Award.
Billboard also ranked Clarkson the #14 artist of the 2000-10 decade, as well as being also ranked on the top 200 album sellers of the Nielsen SoundScan era at number 187.

Kelly was born in the small town of Burleson, Texas. Two factors contributed in setting her on the path to stardom. First, the movie Jaws deterred her from her childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist. Second, a teacher at Pauline Hughes Middle School heard Clarkson singing in the hallway, recognized her talent, and encouraged her to join the choir. Thirteen years old at the time, Kelly was a singing fiend from there on out.

A regular in choral activities, Clarkson was also granted a spot in the Texas All-State Choir. Her talent drew much attention, and after graduating from high school, she set out to sell herself to record labels. She had some demos made, but despite all her efforts she could not land a deal. So, she decided to head west and try her luck in Los Angeles, after having saved enough money from odd jobs as a pharmacy assistant, telemarketer, comedy club cocktail waitress, and at a movie theater and the zoo.
She put forth typical effort in searching for work, and landed a job as an extra on the television show Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. In a mild stroke of luck for the development of her singing career, she answered a newspaper ad looking for female vocalists and found herself working with famous songwriter Gerry Goffin.

In spite of these signs of progress, Clarkson was having a hard time finding work and became discouraged. After Mr. Goffin became ill, her roommate moved out and her apartment burned down, she decided she had had enough, and went back to Texas -- broke and discouraged -- to regroup.

Back in Burleson, Clarkson felt revitalized. She found a solid day job as a promoter for Red Bull energy drinks in order to help pay the bills. Her dream, of course, persisted, even if she did not have any high-paying gigs or record contracts. Then one day, a friend told her about the new television program American Idol, a singing contest where the public votes for the winner. Kelly signed up with no particularly high expectations; she was, after all, going to be up against 10,000 contestants.

Clarkson floored the judges right from her audition, where she sang a version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect," which has gone on to become Clarkson's signature song. To her surprise, Kelly found herself among the final 30 contestants. Along the way she realized that she really wanted to win -- apparently, she experienced a sort of epiphany while singing Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman." Perhaps this motivation gave her voice the added strength and conviction that helped propel her into the finals.

Fans loved her, and so, noticeably, did the judges. Judge Paula Abdul, a former pop star herself, said she had the "triple threat" -- that is, promise in singing, television and film. But the more impressive comment came from the notoriously critical British judge Simon Cowell, who told her, "there's no question about it... you are the best singer on this show."

Kelly Clarkson won the American Idol contest on September 4, 2002, earning 58% of the vote over Justin Guarini, the other finalist. Her official prize was a million-dollar RCA record contract; the unofficial prize a considerable amount of fame and notoriety.
On October 5th, 2002, her first single, "A Moment Like This," went from No. 52 to No. 1 on the Billboard charts, a new "leap to number one" record (previously held by the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" in 1964, which went from No. 27 to No. 1).
Meanwhile, she was offered a multimillion-dollar movie contract for a feature showcasing the range of talents possessed by her and Guarini, entitled From Justin to Kelly. While the movie was poorly received by critics and grossed only $5 million at the North American box office, less than half its reported budge, Kelly Clarkson was didn't let the setback affect her future success.

Since Kelly Clarkson's run on the show, American Idol has become a lasting American staple -- though no winner has quite matched the success of Clarkson. Billboard named Clarkson the "most successful American Idol of all time," factoring in album sales, singles sales and radio plays. She is the only American Idol contestant to have reached No. 1 in the UK, and her single "My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted No. 1 on downloads alone in 2009.

In June 2011, RCA released Clarkson's album into pre-order format through her official online store. On August 17, 2011, Clarkson also revealed the title of the album to be Stronger; and the album's release date on October 25, 2011.
The cover of the single was released on her facebook page that same day. On September 7, 2011, the album cover for Stronger was released and the album's release date has been moved up to October 24, 2011.

The first single, "Mr. Know It All", premiered via live webcast on Kelly's official website on August 30, 2011; the song became available on September 5, 2011. On October 2, 2011, Clarkson performed the song at the 2011 NRL Grand Final in Sydney, Australia, marking Clarkson's first appearance at the event since the 2003 NRL Grand Final.

Soon after the first season of American Idol ended, Clarkson starred with Idol runner-up Justin Guarini in the movie From Justin to Kelly (2003). The film was poorly received by critics and grossed only $5 million at the North American box office, less than half its reported budget.
She has mentioned in interviews that she is shocked when people send her scripts after From Justin to Kelly, often citing contractual obligation as her sole reason for involvement in the film. Clarkson was quoted telling People, "I knew when I read the script it was going to be real, real bad, but when I won, I signed that piece of paper and I could not get out of it." The script was written by Kim Fuller, Simon Fuller's brother.

She played Brenda Lee in the television drama American Dreams and appeared in the sitcom Reba. She also participated in sketch comedy on MADtv (2002) and Saturday Night Live (2005).

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