After winning the first season of “American Idol,” Kelly Clarkson quickly established that she wasn’t going anywhere. With critically acclaimed albums, chart-topping hits, and a spot on Rolling Stone’s “200 Greatest Singers of All Time,” she’s proven to be versatile and adaptive.
Clarkson has returned as a judge on “The Voice” and recently announced the end of her talk show, “The Kelly Clarkson Show.” It’s hard to imagine anyone telling her she can’t do something, given all her accomplishments. However, the singer recently revealed a time early in her career when she was told no. After writing “Because of You,” she was told the song couldn’t be added to her debut album, “Thankful.” Her persistence won out, and, fortunately for fans, the song was added to her next album.
Kelly Clarkson’s Fight to Release Chart-Topping Hit ‘Because of You’
“Because of You’ was rejected the first album,” Clarkson explained while appearing with John Legend on “SiriusXM’s Hits 1.” “They were like, ‘It doesn’t rhyme, it’s the worst song ever,’ like, whatever. And I was like, ‘Well, it’s not really about that, it could be an album track. It’s just meaningful for me.”
“I think what really bummed meout was kind of figuring that out about the industry early on, that a lot of people just don’t care,” she continued. “They don’t care about the art of it. They just want to make the money, right? So I think the coolest part for me, and the surprise for me, is that I pushed so hard and got somebody on board with the song.”
She didn’t say who it was, only that it was someone who was “selling records at the time.”
“But then the fans, she added. “It blew up, and it was my biggest number one worldwide. I think that was the surprise. No matter how much you can feel like the machine is against you, your fans will be there.”
Kelly Clarkson’s Warning to Artists: Why You Must Fight the Music Machine
“Because of You” became one of Clarkson’s most popular songs in Europe. In the U.S., it reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Thanks to her own experience and struggles in getting “Because of You” released, Clarkson’s advice to artists is to fight for what they believe in. She explained that, after winning “American Idol,” she had “five different label heads in a matter of years.”
“So it’s like, they’re probably not going to be there, you know? So, it’s just, it really is about doing what you love and really holding strong to that.”
