Now: Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Brianne Clarkson was born in Fort Worth, Texas and grew up in the small town of Burleson, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. She is the third and youngest child of Jeanne Rose, a first grade teacher, and Stephen Michael Clarkson, a former engineer. When Clarkson was six years old, her parents split up after seventeen years of marriage. As a result, her brother went to live with her father, her sister went to live with an aunt, and Clarkson remained with her mother. Clarkson frequently moved to different cities around Texas while her mother managed several professions in order to support the family. The family settled in Burleson, where Clarkson's mother married her second husband, Jimmy Taylor.

Clarkson's family struggled financially, and music became her refuge after the first divorce. Clarkson attended Pauline G Hughes Middle School and Burleson High School, originally wanted to become a marine biologist. In seventh grade, a teacher (Mrs. Cynthia Glenn) overheard her singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the school choir. Clarkson said that she had never received professional vocal training. In high school, Clarkson performed in musicals such as Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Brigadoon. Around this time, Clarkson decided to pursue singing. She sang at her high school talent show, after which a gentleman shared some inspiring words with her: "God has given you this gift. You've got to sing. You're destined to sing." Clarkson did continue to sing and soon started classical training, hoping that music would be her ticket to a college scholarship.

Clarkson worked numerous jobs during and after high school, such as mowing lawns, helping her contractor stepfather build porches, and working in a movie theater starting at age 16 and until she moved to Los Angeles. She also worked for Papa John's, Subway, Six Flags Over Texas, Starbucks, and sold vacuums door to door (her latter experience which she described with a well-intended pun: "It sucked."). She attended Crestmont Baptist Church in Burleson during her high school years.

Upon high school graduation, Clarkson was offered full scholarships to The University of Texas at Austin, University of North Texas, and Berklee, but decided against college because she had "already written so much music and wanted to try it on her own. And she figured you're never too old to go to college."

Clarkson made her debut under RCA Records after she won the first season of American Idol in 2002.

She was originally marketed as a pop musician with her debut album Thankful (2003). With the release of her multi-platinum second album, Breakaway (2004), Clarkson moved to a more rock-oriented type of music. Clarkson's third album, entitled My December, was released on June 26, 2007. According to Sony Music, Clarkson has sold over 20 million albums worldwide. Clarkson has had eight of her singles become Top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Her first three albums sold over 9.5 million copies in the United States. In 2008, she joined VH1's list of 10 sexiest women of the new millennium at #8. She also hit #28 on Vh1's Top 30 Hottest Rock Front Women. As of 2008 she is one of the 10 most played artists on adult contemporary radio. Clarkson's fourth album titled All I Ever Wanted was released on March 10, 2009, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. Her latest single, "My Life Would Suck Without You", advanced from No. 97 to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in its first week of release, breaking the record for the largest leap to the No. 1 position in chart history. She is currently the only American Idol contestant to have reached number one in the UK. She claimed number one on March 1, 2009 when "My Life Would Suck Without You" debuted number one on downloads alone.

On April 25, 2007, Clarkson appeared on Idol Gives Back and performed Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain". After the performance, the audience who watched Clarkson perform live, gave her a standing ovation. American Idol judge Simon Cowell described her as "incredible", saying, "When you let her come back on the show it makes everybody else look like an amateur."

In addition to her roles as spokeswoman for the acne treatment Proactiv and vitaminwater, Clarkson partnered with NASCAR for the 2007 season. She appeared in televised advertising spots, performed at pre-race concerts, promoted NASCAR Day, and appeared at the Champions' Banquet in December. The August 2007 issue of Blender included a feature on Clarkson and her new album, as well as her music label woes. She also appeared at the NFL's opening night performance in Indianapolis for the kickoff of the new season.

Clarkson also performed at half-time during the 2007 Thanksgiving Day football game between the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys.

In 2005, Clarkson made a performance during the 2005 NBA All-Star Weekend. Later that year, she performed the Star-Spangled Banner at Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons and performed that spring as part of the 2005 NCAA Final Four festivities in St. Louis, Missouri.