Kelly Clarkson Says Garth Brooks Song Helped Her Get Through Divorce

Kelly Clarkson’s next album will include at least one song about her divorce, news she confirmed to Garth Brooks on Monday’s episode of her talk show.

The OG “American Idol” singer — who is currently in the middle of a split from husband Brandon Blackstock — opened up to her guest about how one of his songs helped her figure out her own emotions during the process.

“So I’m going through a divorce and there’s been like a lot of books and people always give you stuff to like help, especially when you have kids and stuff,” explained Kelly. “And I know you’ve been divorced as well. It’s like, man, there’s so much shame and guilt, and everybody sends you stuff, and I was just kind of working through it.”

“I couldn’t quite nail down the feeling, I was like, you don’t want to crap on it, you don’t want to say that didn’t count or matter, but you don’t know what to put in it because it didn’t work out how you wanted,” she continued. “I kid you not, I was listening to my playlist and ‘The Dance’ came on and I was like, that’s the thing.”

“The Dance” was one of Brooks’ biggest hits from his self-titled debut album in 1990. With lyrics like, “I could have missed the pain / but I’d have had to miss the dance,” the song is about focusing on the good when a relationship comes to an end.

Clarkson went on to say she wrote a similar song for her upcoming album, telling Brooks it’s not “a ripoff.”

“I literally wrote this whole thing therapeutically for me. It’s actually on my next album,” she explained, before singing the a line. “Even though my heart is broken, it was worth a dance anyway.”

Kelly said that while she’s loved “The Dance” since her childhood, she never related to it the way she does now. “I was bawling,” she said, “because it is true, there’s a lot of loss, a lot of grief and a lot of change, especially if you have kids.”

“All the books were helpful … it’s so funny, I guess because I’m a musician, I was listening in my room [crying] and I was listening to ‘The Dance,’ I got the point,” she continued. “Sometimes that’s so crazy … you’ve known this song your entire life and you freak out when it actually is a direct impact.”

Clarkson and Blackstock are parents to daughter River Rose, 6, and 4-year-old son Remington. Blackstock also has two children with ex-wife Melissa Ashworth.

Earlier this month, a Los Angeles County judge awarded Clarkson primary physical custody of their children in Los Angeles — though the two will share joint physical and legal custody. According to TMZ, Brandon — who lives in Montana — will get the three weekends a month. For the 1st and 5th weekends, Brandon must be in Los Angeles, while the kids would travel to Montana for the 3rd weekend of the month.

As part of their latest agreement, the two agreed they would “not speak in a derogatory manner about the other parent to the minor children” or consume alcohol or marijuana within eight hours of driving a car with the kids.

She would later file legal docs claiming Blackstock — who was also her manager — defrauded her. Her claim comes after Brandon’s company sued her saying she owed $1.4 million in September.