Kelly Clarkson was born on April 24, 1982 in Fort Worth, Texas. The youngest of three children, Kelly was only six years old when she was separated from her brother and sister as her parents decided to end their seventeen-year marriage. Kelly stayed under the care of her mother and after a lot of moving around, mother and daughter finally settled down in Burleson, where Kelly studied for high school. When Kelly was in seventh grade, her teacher asked her to join the school choir, and even though she had never taken any lessons, Kelly went on to perform in her high school's productions, which included Brigadoon. Before auditioning for season 1 of American Idol, Kelly took on a number of jobs, including performing at Six Flags, working as a telemarketer and promoting the engery drink, Red Bull. She likes listening to U2 and Celine Dion and thinks that the guitar is a very cool instrument.
The year 2002 was the year that dramatically shifted the course of Kelly's life, and it was through the first season of American Idol that she finally found her big break. She auditioned for the show in Dallas, where she impressed the judges with her renditions of "Express Yourself" by Madonna and "At Last" by Glenn Miller. When she became one of the 30 semifinalists, she secured a place in the Top 10 when she performed Aretha Franklin's "Respect." From then, she continued to climb to the top, never being voted into the Bottom 3. When it came down to her and Justin Guarini, she sang "Think Twice" and "Without You," and ultimately clinched the victory when she came out singing "Respect" for the second time in season 1.
As the first American Idol winner, Kelly got to sing "A Moment Like This" for her big finale. In October 2004, one month after the competition, the song was released as a single from Kelly's first album Thankful. Incredibly, the song jumped from number fifty-two to number one on the Billboard Charts. After winning, she went on to make the movie, From Justin to Kelly, with fellow Idol
Justin Guarini . Although the movie was a huge flop, Kelly's career has soared to tremendous heights, with her album "Breakaway" receiving several American Music Awards and two Grammy awards, one of which was for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance." She has also appeared in shows like
Saturday Night Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show."