Kelly Clarkson has had a great career singing about heartbreak and moving on, but her new album – a greatest hits compilation – has three new tracks, one of which – “Don’t Rush” (a duet with Vince Gill) – was influenced by her romantic happiness with boyfriend Brandon Blackstock.
And Brandon’s stepmom – Reba McEntire – noticed.
“Reba — I was actually at the CMAs — and she was like, ‘I don’t know if you would have picked that song before.’ Because I’m always the girl who loves the heartbreak songs and stuff like that, and I have since I was a kid,” Kelly told Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson, of picking a loved-up tune for the LP. “But, I’m super happy, I’m in love and it’s great and so I like singing about it.”
Kelly, the original winner of “American Idol,” will release “Greatest Hits – Chapter One” on November 19.
It’s a record that features the breakout pop songs that made her a star and kept her one, including “Since U Been Gone,” “My Life Would Suck Without You,” “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” and “Mr. Know It All.”
But her next record might have a few love-positive ballads thanks to how she’s feeling these days.
“How does being in love affect the song making?” Shaun asked.
“It has affected me quite a bit actually,” Kelly said. “It is nice, I guess, to hear something different from me, but at the same time, with ‘Catch My Breath,’ which was the first single off the greatest hits — I actually wrote it about my career, just the arc of everything in my life for the past 10 years. So it’s kind of got a little bit of everything — angst and anger and resolution and love. It’s got everything in there. So, I don’t know what’s gonna happen with the next record.”
As for her relationship, Kelly and Brandon are taking things slow and she confirmed the pair is not ready for the next step.
“Every interview I’ve done is like, ‘So you’re engaged?’ And I’m like, ‘No, we’re not. We’ve been dating for eight months, people!’ We’re Southern but we’re not that quick,” she said. “He’s got two kids and they’re great. We just like taking our time and we’re super in love and probably one day will but like, there’s no rush on that.
“I’m 30 and he’s 35 and we’re in love and we both work in the industry so we’re both very busy,” Kelly continued. “I’m finding, now that I’m 30, just looking back… you need to take more time and enjoy every moment that you have — not with just relationships but with work and all the cool things that we get to do.”
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