Kelly Clarkson’s career after her American Idol win wasn’t as glamorous as many would expect.
“After I won Idol, people were like, ‘Oh she’s a millionaire.’ No I wasn’t,” the singer, 42, said on the Thursday, March 27, episode of Kylie Kelce’s “Not Gonna Lie” podcast. “They say million dollar contract, no I didn’t. They said I’d get a car, no I didn’t. I didn’t get any of that. We were playing festivals in the middle of cow s— plugging in all our gear.”
Clarkson added that while the win was great, she still had to “hustle” — which she has carried over into her work ethic to this day.
“I was the first winner, it was hard,” she said. “Not to sound, like, whatever, but it was really hard. People were really mean.”
Clarkson got her music career started by appearing on the first season of American Idol which aired in 2002. When she signed up for the audition process, Clarkson and her fellow competitors didn’t know it was going to end up being a beloved TV series.
“For me it’s different — for all of us in that first season — we didn’t even know it was a TV show until the third audition,” she confessed. “We were literally trying to pay our bills y’all.”
As Clarkson made it through each round, she was optimistic something might turn out of it. She went on to win the singing competition show.
“We were like, ‘Oh this might work or I might meet someone.’ Nobody knew it was going to amount to anything,” she recalled. “In the second season, they knew what could happen because ‘Miss Independent’ had hit.”
After becoming American Idol’s inaugural winner, Clarkson signed to RCA Records. She and her fellow finalists from the show embarked on a tour together in fall 2002. Clarkson went on to release her first single “Miss Independent” which was an international hit. The power anthem was certified gold and earned Clarkson her first Grammy nomination.
Clarkson didn’t slow down after that. She has released 10 studio albums and won three Grammys. In 2018, Clarkson returned to the singing competition world as she joined The Voice as a coach. Clarkson explained on Thursday that her previous experience with American Idol helped her relate to the members of her team better.
“Every artist gets their start in a different way. I think for people like us who have been there in the audition process and know what it’s like to be judged instantaneously on maybe not your best performance,” she admitted. “It’s a grueling thing and it’s unforgiving. It’s a lot of pressure right off the bat for these artists. I don’t think a lot of artists that sell a ton of records would be able to handle. It’s a different thing.”
Read the full article here
