Kelly Clarkson will always be the answer to a trivia question. After
all, she was the first winner of American Idol. She would beat out
Justin Guarini for the title. The show made Kelly a household name.
Viewers were blown away with her powerful voice and even Idol judge
Simon Cowell was impressed. After winning the show, Clarkson released her first single "A Moment Like This", which shot right to the number one position on the Billboard chart.
Her life before American Idol was hit with many road blocks. Kelly
decided to leave her hometown of Burleson, Texas and head for Los
Angeles. After many set backs trying to break into the industry,
including her apartment burning down, Kelly returned to Texas and began working as a cocktail waitress.
When a friend pushed her to audition for American Idol, she managed to
get through into the top ten. Her girl next door looks and innocent
attitude caught the attention of the American public, who each week
voted to keep her in the contest. In the end, Kelly walked away with a
one million dollar record deal from RCA Records.
Kelly Clarkon's debut CD "Thankful" entered the charts at number one.
The first single from the album was "Miss Independent", which was
co-written with Christina Aguilera.
Kelly's major breakthrough came with her second CD "Breakaway". That CD featured the hits "Since U Been Gone", "Behind These Hazel Eyes" and "Because Of You". If she wasn't famous enough "Breakaway" would cement her A-List status. Kelly would also win two Grammy Awards for the Breakaway CD.
Kelly's third CD "Mr December" was released in 2007 and was a sales disappointment. That followed a very public feud with her record boss Clive Davis and the cancellation of her arena tour for poor ticket sales.
However Kelly did find herself nominated for another Grammy Award for her duet with her idol Reba McEntire. The two remade Kelly's hit "Because Of You"
