Kelly Clarkson is a musician and singer that has found fame in the music industry despite what we all know about singing competitions: Winners don’t always get famous. She is part of the exception.
She was the winner for the first season of American Idol and has made sure to build her career from there. Today, she is a singer and has her own talk show, and you can find much more in her portfolio.
With more jobs landed, this means her fortune also grew over the years. Although she isn’t the wealthiest, she sure knows how to continuously build her net worth.
From albums, only new singles, or songwriting, she is quite multifaceted, and we will love going over her life to know where the money came from.
Who Is Kelly Clarkson? – Early Years
When it comes to her childhood, there isn’t much notable information we can share. But we will make sure to go over the essentials to make everything as clear as possible.
Being her full name Kelly Brianne Clarkson, she was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 24, 1982. She is the youngest child of three, and once her parents divorced, she was separated from her two siblings.
As a result, Kelly lived with her mother while her sister and brother moved in with other relatives as their father didn’t want to take care of them, nor was he able to.
In Kelly’s life, the Church was part of the main influence in her life as she was raised a Southern Baptist due to her mother.
Following this influence, in middle school, she joined the choir and began singing for the first time. Due to her voice and her talent, Clarkson was a performer in many school musicals, and talent showed when she reached high school.
Thanks to her constant participation in choirs and shows, she was able to receive scholarships from several universities due to her singing talent. However, unlike what many would believe, she decided to decline them all to focus on her music career entirely.
Basically, she didn’t want to take other courses but just make sure she was able to build a career in the industry.
So, following her desire, Clarkson graduated high school in 2000 and made it her priority to record a demo reel.
To finance the record, she worked many jobs to pay for the sessions, and some record labels showed interest in her from her hard work.
Despite receiving some offers, just like with her college opportunities, she declined all of them because she was afraid she would be stereotypical and commercialized by the labels like most singers were suffering back in the early 2000s.
In order to pursue a different approach, she traveled to Los Angeles in 2001 because she believed there would be more opportunities.
There, she recorded a 5-track demo reel but was rejected by every record company she approached. After financial difficulties, she had to return home and work in a different strategy.
During this difficult time, she was a waitress and a host at a movie theatre to finance most of her expenses.
American Idol & Music Career
Kelly is known today for her participation in the singing competition Americal Idol and how she built her career. But how did she decide to participate?
Although she wasn’t really looking for more chances, Kelly was encouraged by her friends to apply for “American Idol” shortly after she returned home. This was the show’s first season, and the producers were still learning the ropes as the series progressed.
After being a strong competitor throughout the competition, Clarkson won the contest in the final round as per any competition and finally launched her carer with the offers received.
Simon Fuller, the creator of American Idol, signed Clarkson to RCA Records as promised for the show’s winner.
Clarkson’s debut single, “A Moment Like This,” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the number one single in America in 2002.
After her single, Clarkson’s debut album came and was named “Thankful,” which was released in 2003. It was certified double platinum and her voice was well-received by critics but also fans and new listeners.
Some of the songs featured in the album are all-time bangers for most people today as they mark an era in the 2000s. It featured songs like “Miss Independent” or “The Trouble with Love Is.”
Following her success with the album, she decided to forge her own path in music by cutting ties to Simon Fuller and looking for a new management fir ger career.
In this period, she released a new album named “Breakaway,” which critics praised when it was first released in 2004, and Clarkson’s popularity continued to build up.
She sold 12 million copies worldwide for her second album, making it her most profitable album financially. Following the release of her new album, Clarkson decided to go on a tour that ran from 2005 to 2006.
For her third album, she decided to approach a different tone leading to a dark one instead of the mainstream sound the executives at RCA wanted her to perform.
Regardless of the pressure, Clarkson refused to let them in on the creative process as she wanted to make the album what she wanted and make sure the process was as close to her as possible. As a result, RCA did not promote the album as much as they had previously done with the first two.
The album was titled “My December” and was released in 2007. It was a mixed success, earning platinum status and receiving praise from critics. However, only 2.5 million copies were sold worldwide, and it clearly showed the difference in popularity with fans.
Her next album, “All I Ever Wanted,” was a return to mainstream music. The album’s lighter tone reached the top of the Billboard Top 200, and it was commercially successful with platinum status. This was followed by a new tour from 2009 to 2010.
Clarkson and Jason Aldean collaborated on the hit country song “Don’t You Wanna Stay,” which was a huge success and brought a new eye to her music by fans in country music.
In 2011, Clarkson released her new album, “Stronger,” earning her a Grammy. Her amazing performance followed this during the Superbowl in 2012, and she decided to release the first greatest hits album of her career so far.
By 2017, Kelly had released a holiday album and other releases until 2015, when she decided to cut ties with RCA for her seventh studio album and sign with Atlantic in 2017. With her new label, she released “Meaning of Life” during the same year, a new album.
Her ninth studio album was released recently, on October 15, 2021, titled “When Christmas Comes Around,” which follows the holiday theme and has received good critics so far.
Inside Her Private Life: Marriage & Children
Kelly has quite a difficult past with her father, which was even exposed in her 2015 single, “Piece by Piece,” letting the world know how much she suffered and how her husband at the time helped her to overcome this pain.
Now, her personal life isn’t that exposed to the public as we only know she was married to Brandon Blackstock, who is the song of Kelly’s former manager, Narvel Blackstock.
They married in October 2013 and had two children. Their daughter was born in 2014, and their son in 2016. However, Kelly filed for divorce in June 2020, which led to a long battle in court for custody but also money for child support.
Kelly received the main custody for her children, but Brandon initially requested $430,000 in monthly child support, which was then reduced to $135,000 by the court.
The singer filed complaints as her now ex-husband requested $2 million to cover attorney’s fees. She argued in her complaint that his father wasn’t licensed to manage singers nor any sort of talent and requested millions in return.
The trial finally took place in early 2021 when the child support was set in $45,000 for child support until kids turn 18 years old and $150,000 in spousal support for two years that Kelly needs to pay Brandon. So, in total, she has to pay $195,000 in spousal and child support combined.
Regardless of the difficulties, Kelly remained positive and has built her career during her court sessions.
Diving into Her Net Worth: How Much Is Kelly Clarkson Worth?
Finally reaching the part we care about, she has earned quite the money throughout her career.
Compared to other singers and celebrities like Taylor Swift and more, it may don’t look like much, but millions are definitely in her pockets.
Besides her earnings based on records and albums sold, she has taken part in television shows. “The Voice,” the singing contest very similar to Americal Idol, had her as a judge for several seasons and years.
On average, she was earning about $560,000 per episode, translating into $14 million per season. In 2012, 2017, 2018, and 2019, she worked in the show when she earned about $13 for the earlier seasons.
Although there aren’t many details about her early earnings with the first four albums, there’s an estimate she has earned about $120 million throughout her entire career.
Today, her net worth stands at $40 million, but this doesn’t include real estate properties yet as part of her investment.
She owns a 10,000-square-foot mansion in California that was part of the primary residence while she was married. However, she sold it for $8.24 million in September this year, which kind of led to a loss for her.
She sold her Tennesee home for $6.3 million in 2020, and other properties in Montana and Los Angeles are worth about $2 and $5.5 million.
Helping Others: Clarkson’s Charity Work
The celebrity has made sure to stay active in charity events and contributes to several causes and organizations.
Some of the main ones include Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, City Harvest, Exploring the Arts, and Little Kids Rock.
Most of her donations go to organizations focused on children’s education, support, and general ways to support them.
In addition, she greatly contributes to the music industry by providing funds to music schools and academies for those in need and promoting it as a career path for many around the world.
She has mentioned that she likes to give back to others because she feels her life couldn’t be better in terms of money. She stated in several interviews that giving to others is part of her happiness.
Although not much is said about her donations and how she takes part in events, she has contributed with more than money and her presence.
Back in the years, she painted a guitar for Little Kids Rock and a funding collection with several members in high society to give everything to those in need.
Top 5 Kelly Clarkson Quotes
- “God will never give you anything you can’t handle, so don’t stress.”
- “I’ll spread my wings, and I’ll learn how to fly. I’ll do what it takes till I touch the sky.”
- “You should know that I lead, not follow.”
- “Gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and break away. I won’t forget the place I came from.”
- “Everyone is different: different shapes, sizes, colors, beliefs, personalities, and you have to celebrate those differences.”
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