Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Kelly: "I am set for life"

My friend John (who will be in row 20 with me at the Idols concert in September) called my attention to Sunday’s “USA Weekend” in which Kelly Clarkson talks about where the songs on “My December” came from…

“I met this musician, not a famous musician—he doesn’t even deserve to be named—and I thought he was totally into me. And then you find out, oh God, that he had this whole other relationship on the side, and that he is only dating you to get into pictures and become famous.”

That breakup, combined with the stress of her tour, combined with two cases of pneumonia, combined with a bunch of friends getting married and having kids sent Kelly into “a tailspin.”

“Everything caught up with me in a bad way. My body was wearing down, and my emotions were wearing down. I was trying to get over someone. I hadn’t seen my friends and family for a while, and it was becoming a nuisance [to see them] because I was so busy. I was traveling, and then there was more added to the schedule. It just got chaotic. I was 24, and that is pretty young to be the boss of so much. And it caught up with me, I couldn’t smile. I couldn’t do anything. I broke down. I cried so much I couldn’t speak. I was that tired. I was drained. I didn’t want to act. I didn’t want to smile—I didn’t want to pretend. I just broke…It was the lowest point of my life and my career.”

During this dark period, Kelly started writing the songs that would become “My December.” “It was free therapy.”

Of course, you couldn’t have a Kelly interview without something about Clive Davis. “I’m going to be real honest with you: I am not a fan,” she said. “I do respect him, but I don’t want to barbecue with him. We don’t braid each other’s hair. And, despite the rumors, he is nowhere near a father figure.”

Kelly had even more pointed comments about Clive in the August issue of “Blender” (Thanks to Jim for that tip.). She told the magazine that during one of their fights over her CD, Kelly said to Clive, “I don’t know you very well and I am not a bulls---er. I get [that] you don’t like the album. You’re 80, you’re not supposed to like my album.”

Those comments sparked a reaction from Simon Cowell who told “Extra,” “Clive Davis at 80 is better than 90 percent of the people in the music business in their twenties, thirties and forties. And he’s not [even] 80, he’s less than 80.” Simon’s advice for Kelly? “Kiss and make up, decide what’s best, get on with it.”

This week’s “Entertainment Weekly” declares the early sales of “My December” “something of a victory,” though they admit the next few weeks will tell the story. The CD’s first two-week total of 405,000 nearly matched the first two-week total of “Breakaway.” This week, the CD sold 59,000 copies (which is less than half of the 128,000 of “Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus” sold this week).

Kelly herself is not concerned. She told “USA Weekend,” “I used to live paycheck to paycheck. Now I am set for life”…