Kelly Clarkson is speaking her truth. Her latest album, Chemistry largely touches on her divorce from her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock. But in a recent interview with The Howard Stern Radio Show, she revealed a surprising truth about her second album, Breakaway.
As many fans know, Breakaway‘s title track was originally written by Avril Lavigne, then was later given to Clarkson circa 2004. Clarkson revealed to Stern that while she likes the song, she wasn’t exactly excited to include it on her second album, which would later be named after this song.
@howardsternshow @kellyclarkson Clears Up How “Breakaway” Made It Onto Her 2nd Album (2023) #howardstern #SternShow #thehowardsternshow #howardsternshow #fyp #KellyClarkson #AvrilLavigne
“I liked the song, I’m going to lead with that, but I’m going to be honest with you … it doesn’t sound [like the rest of the album] … My label was like look, if you do this, we’ll give you this, like with songs on the record. I just didn’t think it fit in,” said Clarkson.
She compared the song to some of the album’s several hits, including “Walk Away,” “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Because Of You,” and of course, the iconic “Since U Been Gone.”
Clarkson noted that her label was “really pushing for it.”
“I was like, ‘Man, if y’all really believe in it, then alright.’ And then we ended up naming [the album] Breakaway,” she said.
You can see a clip from the interview above.
Chemistry is out now via Atlantic. Find more information here.
Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.