“Since U Been Gone” part 2? Kelly Clarkson’s divorce from Brandon Blackstock inspired her new album, and we can’t wait for some angsty, heartbreak bangers. The American Idol alum hinted that her divorce was the inspiration for her next album in an interview with Sunday Today With Willie Geist, which will air on Sunday, September 13.
In a preview of the interview, Clarkson revealed that her upcoming eighth studio album, which she called her “most personal” yet, will tell the story of a relationship from start to end. “This next record, this will probably be the most personal one I’ve ever released,” Clarkson said. “The whole record is basically every emotion you experience from the beginning of a relationship to the end of what it is now or where it is now. It’s been very therapeutic for me. It’s very honest.”
The “Breakaway Singer” filed for divorce from Blackstock, a music manager, in June after almost seven years of marriage. Clarkson and Blackstock share two kids: daughter River, 6, and son Remington, 4. At the time she filed for divorce, the Voice judge cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for her separation. In response to his estranged wife’s divorce filing, Blackstock requested joint physical and legal custody of their children.
In an interview with Demi Lovato on her talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, in June, the “Moment Like This” singer opened up about the depression she’s experienced amid her split. “I have similar issues, and I suffer from depression,” she said. “I think a lot of people, especially in the creative world, or just from childhood, you’ve been kind of trained to, like, just keep going and you can handle it. Especially as a woman, it’s like, ‘Don’t let ‘em see you sweat.’”
Clarkson went on to tell Lovato that maintaining her mental health amid her separation is a “daily effort.” “That’s a daily effort,” Clarkson said. “That’s not like a given, like you’re over it and you went to some magical therapy session and it’s over. I think that’s a daily thing that you work at and a daily thing that I work at.”