- Kelly Clarkson announced her next album, Chemistry, is coming “soon” in 2023.
- Chemistry is her tenth studio album.
- Chemistry will be Kelly Clarkson’s first album since her divorce from Brandon Blackstock.
“Alright, y’all. It’s officially time to tell you that I’ve been working on this project for, well, close to three years now. And I wasn’t sure I was going to release it, but I am. The album is called Chemistry,” Kelly Clarkson said in a Mar. 26 Instagram video, ushering in a wave of joy for her followers. The host of The Kelly Clarkson Show was proud to announce her tenth studio album and her first major collection of music following her divorce from her husband and former manager, Brandon Blackstock.
Kelly Clarkson burst onto the music scene in 2002 when she won the inaugural season of American Idol. A year later, she released her debut album, Thankful. As of 2023, the album has gone Platinum twice in the US. Kelly’s most commercially successful album would be her sophomore release, 2004’s Breakaway. Featuring “Since U Been Gone,” “Because Of You,” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” the album has since gone 6x-Platinum, according to the RIAA.
The subsequent releases – 2007’s My December, 2009’s All I Ever Wanted, 2011’s Stronger, and 2013’s Wrapped In Red – sold well, reaching Platinum status in the United States. 2015’s Piece By Piece, Kelly’s last album for RCA, broke that streak, reaching only Gold status. She signed with Atlantic and released Meaning of Live in 2017, a record that has since been certified Gold. In 2021, she put out When Christmas Comes Around…, her second holiday album (following 2013’s Wrapped In Red). Mostly full of covers of Christmas classics, the album features “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You),” a track considered a breakup holiday anthem.
As of Mar. 29, Chemistry hasn’t been given a release date, but Kelly said that the album – and new music from it – is coming “soon.” Here’s what we know so far.
What Is The Title Of Kelly Clarkson’s Forthcoming Album?
“Alright, y’all. It’s officially time to tell you that I’ve been working on this project for, well, close to three years now,” Kelly said in her Mar. 26 Instagram video. “And I wasn’t sure I was going to release it, but I am. The album is called Chemistry, and it’s called Chemistry because I was trying to find a word — also, it might be one of the songs on the album — but I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing. Cause I didn’t want everybody to think I was coming out with some just like, ‘I’m angry, I’m sad,’ just one or two emotions, you know?”
“This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship, and a whole relationship shouldn’t be just brought down to one thing,” she added. “So, there’s, y’know — the good, the bad, and the ugly kind of thing going on it. Anyway, chemistry could be a sexy, cool, fun thing. But it could be very bad for you. So, that’s why I named it Chemistry. I thought it was kind of the perfect title to describe the entire album.”
Will Kelly Clarkson’s Next Album Be About Her Divorce?
“This is an important album,” Clarkson told Variety in Sept. 2022. “I’m working on this in therapy: I have a hard time vocalizing what I’m feeling sometimes, so music is helpful for me. It’s just been really healing. I recorded the record quite some time ago.” The publication noted that the music is “inspired by the emotional journey she went through during her divorce from her ex-husband, music manager Brandon Blackstock, with whom she shares two young children.”
“When my ex and I first separated, there were many emotions. It was hard,” she told Variety. “My producer and I were laughing yesterday because I was like, ‘Remember that time we wrote, like, 25 songs in a week?’ A lot of those are the ones that are on the album. I literally wrote most of these almost two years ago. Then I told my label, ‘I can’t talk about this until I’ve gone through it,’ and it’s just taken some time to do that.”
“[The] whole divorce thing happened, and I needed to write it,” she said of the album. “And then I didn’t know if I was going to release it, because you can be very angry in that state of mind. So some of the songs, they definitely cover the gamut of emotions; there’s everything on the album. It’s almost like the arc of a relationship, because the beginning is so beautiful and sweet, and then it evolves. And sometimes it doesn’t evolve how you want.”
What Songs Are On Kelly Clarkson’s New Album?
As of Mar. 2023, Kelly hasn’t announced any new singles, but they’re imminent.
“The one reason that ended up making me go, ‘I should put this out,’ is that most of the songs in my career that people will generally come up to me [about] are the ones that are stories inspired by my life that maybe they go through as well,” she told Variety. “I’m through [my divorce] now, but there is somebody else who is in it, and that’s a hard place to be, especially if you feel alone. It’s a hard thing to describe, it’s a hard thing to go through publicly, and it’s hard with kids. This record, I think I wrote this for a reason — not just for me, but maybe someone else can benefit from it.”
Will Kelly Clarkson Tour?
Kelly hasn’t announced any tour dates, but she did suggest some kind of event during the summer when her talk show is on hiatus. “I know there are other guys and girls out there that have been through this kind of breakup who are going to need to scream at the top of their lungs — you can come and join me,” she said.
She might have been literal about “coming and joining” her. On Mar. 27, Kelly announced that she would headline an exclusive Las Vegas residency at the Bakkt Theater (formerly Zappos Theater) at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. chemistry…an intimate night with Kelly Clarkson opens July 28, 2023. The residency runs for ten dates: July 28 and 29; and August 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 18, and 19. The show is described as “an intimate music experience that spans her two-decade-long catalog of award-winning hits.”
“I am so excited for these shows and couldn’t think of a better place to get back on stage than Las Vegas! The crowds in Vegas are such an amazing collection of people that simply want to have a great time, and that’s what we’re going to do!” said Kelly in a press release. “So many of my musical idols have had, and still have, incredible residencies on The Strip, and I’m so excited to create my own!”
At the time of the announcement, Kelly was recording the fourth season of The Kelly Clarkson Show, which was picked up for its fifth and sixth seasons. She’s also participating in season 23 of The Voice, having joined Blake Shelton, Niall Horan, and Chance The Rapper as the season’s coaches.