Kelly Clarkson isn’t afraid to joke about her past failed relationships.
“So, this song I wrote when I was 16, and it’s just basically about [how] we can get in such a vicious family cycle,” Clarkson, 43, said, introducing “Because of You” during her Friday, May 9, concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “We learn from our parents, [who] learn from their parents. We keep repeating the same horrible s*** over and over.”
According to Clarkson, she penned “Because of You” as a reminder that she should “go any path but this path.”
“Now, it turns out that I chose the same f***ing path,” Clarkson quipped, per social media footage, seemingly referring to her marriage to ex-husband Brandon Blackstock. “That’s great, but then, I was like, ‘Never mind.’ It takes a minute and sometimes you’re not taught great examples about what to look for, and you don’t really know what to look for [until you realize], ‘This isn’t it.’ I think that’s a lot of us.”
The former American Idol champ was married to her now-former music manager from 2013 to 2020, during which they welcomed daughter River Rose, now 10, and son Remington, now 8.
After Clarkson and Blackstock, 48, settled their lengthy and messy divorce in 2022, the singer received full primary custody and moved her brood to New York City.
“I thought I was making a horrible decision,” she recalled to USA Today in October 2023. “I knew I needed a fresh start and couldn’t be in L.A. I really wanted to be in Montana, but you can’t really do a show from there quite yet. So I was like, ‘The only other option would probably be New York.’”
Clarkson added, “I genuinely love it, and I love that my kids love it. I was like, ‘I’m not living here unless it’s right by the park and really nice for the kids.’”
Clarkson, who now films her eponymous talk show in the Big Apple, also agreed to give Blackstock visitation rights in their divorce.
“[Kelly] has a great coparenting relationship with Brandon, but things haven’t always been easy in terms of their personal relationship,” a source previously told Us Weekly exclusively in April 2023. “However, they’ve come a long way and are handling things with their kids really well.”
While Clarkson has fully moved on from the divorce, she is not actively searching for love again.
“I’m not not looking and I’m not looking. I’m very busy,” Clarkson said on the Today show earlier this month. “And you get this, as a mom, I’ve got to focus right now. So, it’s like, there’s a lot of work. Plus, I mean, my kids’ schedule? I feel like it’s busier than mine!”
