Photo: Instagram
He is not a part of her life.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Sep 15, 2018
Kelly Clarkson is a huge success by any measure. She was the first ever winner of American Idol, she has released eight studio albums, sold over 25 million albums and 45 million singles worldwide. She also scored a total of over 100 number ones on the Billboard charts. She has won three Grammy Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and two Academy of Country Music Awards. Billboard called Clarkson one of pop music's greatest singers. Kelly became the first artist in history to top each of Billboard's pop, adult contemporary, country, dance, and adult pop charts. She is happily married with two kids and yet, she has suffered great heartache. Her biological father is not a part of her life. Who is Kelly Clarkson's dad?
1. Because of You
Kelly Clarkson was just 16 when she began writing her hit song "Because of You." This was four years before she would become the first American Idol. The song was inspired by the pain and emotions Kelly was feeling from her parents' divorce and the fact that her father abandoned her when she was six years old. The song ended up on her second album Breakaway in 2004. "Because of you, I don't know how to let anyone else in. Because of you I'm ashamed of my life because it is empty. Because of you I am afraid."
2. Absentee Dad
During an interview on the Scandinavian talk show Skavlan, Kelly talked about her father and why she broke away from him for good. Kelly was born in Fort Worth, Texas to Jeanne Ann and Stephen Clarkson. She described her family as typically American. She has an older sister Alyssa who grew up with their aunt after her parents' divorce. Her older brother Jason lived with their dad for a bit. Her mother eventually remarried and Kelly gained five stepsisters and brothers. S
he also has two younger half brothers from her father's second marriage. Over the years she tried to reach out to her dad, which eventually became humiliating for her when he didn't reciprocate. On the talk show she said, "I know a lot of people go, 'Aww,’ but it's not really that situation. I think if you don't grow up with it, it's hard to miss something you never had. You're like, I shouldn't have to work this hard for someone's love. Like, that's a little ridiculous. And at that point, too, you grow up so much to where you go, okay, I don't even think you're capable (of love)."
3. She doesn't know
Kelly doesn't really know anything about her father's background but she said she feels sorry for him. He missed out getting to know her and her siblings as well as his grandchildren. "Even if it’s not your father, whoever it is in your life, if someone presents such a cancerous environment and then just keeps hurting you, and even if they’re doing it inadvertently and they just don’t know better, you should just not have that person in your life,” she said. “And it’s OK. That’s not a hateful situation. You go your own way.”
4. Becoming a mom
When Kelly became a mom, she decided she truly had to breakaway from her absentee father. She recorded "Piece by Piece" in 2015 as a sequel to "Because of You. In the song she sings, "I will never leave her like you left me / And she will never have to wonder her worth / Because unlike you I'm going to put her first and you know / He'll never walk away, He'll never break her heart, He'll take care of things, he'll love her, Piece by piece, he restored my faith / That a man can be kind and the father should be great." Kelly claims she has no hatefulness or anger or any feelings about the situation with her father.
5. Her husband restored her faith
In a 2016 radio interview with Ryan Seacrest, Kelly said she is happy that her two kids have a great father in her husband Brandon Blackstock. The couple has been married since 2013 and has a daughter, River Rose and son, Remington Alexander together. "Watching my husband love on his daughter all the time you know, go to her events and just be there and, like, be present is hard to watch but beautiful to watch. I know that my kids are going to have that."
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.