Kelly Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is a Grammy Award-winning American pop and rock singer-songwriter, and occasional actress. Clarkson rose to prominence when she appeared on the reality-television series American Idol in 2002, and after winning the competition, was signed to RCA Records. She was originally marketed as a pop musician with her debut album Thankful (2003) which was preceded by her first U.S. number-one single. Under contract with American Idol, Clarkson made a foray into film with the release of From Justin to Kelly (2003), in which she co-starred with Justin Guarini; the film was a failure with both critics and fans.
Distancing herself from her American Idol image, Clarkson took more creative control, and through considerable experimentation, developed a rock-oriented image for the release of her second album Breakaway (2004), which spawned four U.S. top-ten singles and won two Grammy Awards. While on tour in Europe in 2006 Clarkson was writing and composing songs for her third album which she hopes to release within the next year.
From Justin to Kelly (2005)
