Kelly Clarkson Biography

Kelly Clarkson was born in 1982 into a firmly middle-class family. Her mother, Jeanne Taylor, is a first-grade teacher, and her stepfather, Jimmy Taylor, is a contractor. Clarkson was 6 when her mother and biological father, Steve Clarkson, separated.

Clarkson developed an early love of theater and performance. First came the living-room ''productions'' of such popular musicals as ''Beauty and the Beast'' and ''The Little Mermaid''. Before American Idol, Kelly wanted to become a marine biologist, until she saw the movie Jaws.

At 13 years old, a late bloomer by choral standards, Kelly was singing to herself in the corridor at Pauline Hughes Middle School in Burleson, Texas, when a teacher asked her to consider joining the choir. "Nobody really realized I had a talent until I got in there. My teacher really pushed me since I was behind everyone else who had been doing it since 4th grade. From there on, I had a niche."

Her classical training through the choir was, as she describes it, "fundamental to me being able to use my voice and adapt it to different styles of music". She developed quickly and before long was wooing audiences in state and regional competitions, whilst earning a living as a waitress, pharmacy assistant, movie theatre and even at the zoo!

Upon entering Burleson High School, Clarkson spent much of her time in choral mode, when she wasn't honing her skills as a crack volleyball player. She was all but made for musical theater, landing important roles in the high school's productions of ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' and Brigadoon.''

After graduating in 2000 she tried getting into the music business. Clarkson wrote and demo-taped her own compositions while working as a waitress in a comedy club and as a clerk at an Eckerd pharmacy. After many jobs to afford making a demo CD, she finally sent in her demo CD to many recording labels, including RCA Records. All her demo CDs were returned, unopened! After receiving the unopened CDs, she stayed strong and headed out to Los Angeles.

Accompanying a friend, Clarkson went to Los Angeles to seek her first break in the music business. Through various contacts, Clarkson began tentatively working with well-known songwriter Gerry Goffin, a former songwriting partner of Carole King. She wound up as an extra for Issues 101, an independent movie, and Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, a sitcom.

But for Clarkson, a series of discouraging incidents - including Goffin's suffering a sudden illness, a fire at her Los Angeles apartment and her roommate's decision to leave LA - convinced the aspiring singer it was time to return to Burleson.

Back in Burleson, she scrounged up a job distributing promotional samples of the energy drink Red Bull. ''She was discouraged at that point, but she would always say to me, 'I have to sing, I don't know what else to do,' '' recalled her mother.

Finally, another friend cajoled Clarkson into joining roughly 1,000 hopefuls at the Dallas auditions for ''American Idol.'' Several call-backs later, Clarkson found herself on a plane back to Los Angeles, ready to compete against 119 other ''Idol'' contestants.

After being on a TV show on the WB called Popstars, Kelly wasn't that thrilled about being on another televised talent show, but signed the papers anyway and went to Dallas for auditions hoping for the best. After singing in front of the producers of American Idol, she was called back for another audition, but this time in front of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. She nailed it with "At Last" and "Lady Marmalade"! Even though she probably didn't want to go back to LA, I'm sure once she heard the famous trio say "You're going to Hollywood," she agreed to make an exception. She passed the next pack of auditions, which were held in Pasadena, CA, and entered the semi-finals! She gained many votes by the public and entered the top 10 by singing Aretha Franklin's "Respect," hence the website name, "RespectKelly.com." Each week, for 8 weeks, Kelly sang her heart out before America. In the finale, on September 4, 2002, she battled it out with Justin Guarini.

Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson had traveled the long road and were now TV stars. Two new songs, A Moment Like This and Before Your Love, were performed on the American Idol by both Justin and Kelly. That night, Kelly fans called in and voted for 2 hours. The next night, America had voted and picked Kelly Clarkson to be their American Idol. A teary-eyed Kelly sang 'A Moment Like This' after winning, a song that fit Kelly's moment and her happiness.

With her own idols ranging from Bette Midler and Reba McIntyre to Gwen Stefani and Aerosmith, it's not surprising her voice can turn to such a wide variation of styles. Signed to 19 Entertainment and RCA, her album will debut in 2003, and with her debut single "A Moment Like This/Before Your Love" double A-side breaking two world records in its first week alone, Kelly Clarkson is firmly on the music map and is set to shake up the industry.

Her first single smashed straight into number one in the Billboard charts in its first week and she hasn't looked back since. The final 10 contestants from the show re-united for the "American Idol Tour", a 30 date, 7 week Arena tour which took them from Seattle to New York playing to over 200,000 fans.

Kelly has started to bare her soul on her album which showcased the diversity of her voice in addition to her collaborations with many of today's biggest writers including Rhett Lawrence and Walter A.. Kelly has been concentrating on edgy, R&B flavored tracks and yet would love to move into country or even do Broadway one day. "Maybe something that I write or sing will touch someone and then it's all worth it. Why should you choose a genre? I love it all!"

And as if the music wasn't enough, Simon Fuller struck a 15 million dollar movie feature deal with Fox allowing Kelly to showcase her acting and singing talents with American Idol runner up Justin Guarini. In January 2003, Kelly was starring in her very own movie, "From Justin to Kelly", released in April 2003. "This is an amazing opportunity," she said. "One day I would like to work behind the cameras too producing my own work."

"I'm not materialistic, but I am ambitious. I'd love to break globally and can't wait to go to England. There is so much ahead of me and I'm really grateful for that. It all seems to be happening so quickly that it's hard to stop and think. For now, I'm just glad to be in this position and to be able to have a job where I use my singing voice every day. I knew when I watched Jaws that marine biology just wasn't for me!"

In year later 2003 Kelly Clarkson was a double-platinum-selling Billboard award-winning singer, an actress, and a model.

Sources: RESPECT Kelly, Ultimate Kelly Clarkson, VH1.com.

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