That’s the amazing Grammy-award winning singing superstar and mom Kelly Clarkson opening up to Good Housekeeping about overcoming the sudden fame that pushed her to “a very dark place,” and how she powered her way to a happy marriage and motherhood — plus a new side career as a children’s book author.
Here’s some:
Kelly Clarkson on why she turned down two record deals before American Idol:
“They were like, “You have to lose 20 pounds and basically sign your life away” — and I was small then, by the way. I don’t want to start a relationship with somebody who says something like that. And this is my gift, and they wanted to take all the profit from me working my butt off. Why would I?”
On her difficulty dealing with sudden fame:
“I was in a very dark place for a long time. It’s just so hard to have normalcy. I love to sing, and I love to talk to people at meet-and-greets. It’s just all the crap that comes along with this job…I don’t love traveling, because I’m never home. It’s hard when you have a family.”
On making time for her marriage:
“We try our best. Brandon and I have a date night every night — we’ll get the kids to bed and go out by the lake with a glass of wine, and the next thing we know, it’s 2 A.M. We’re tired in the morning, but we need that time to stay connected.”
On how motherhood has empowered her:
“I sound like such a tool, but becoming a mother has made me next-level confident. I’ve never felt more empowered. I feel like my 20s were spent walking on eggshells making sure everyone felt loved and not really expressing my opinion. As a mom, you just don’t have time, so you get straight to the point.”
On how her daughter River Rose, 2, inspired her new book, River Rose and the Magical Lullaby:
“I was on a flight back from London with River, and I thought about all the cool places she’s been that she’s not going to remember. I decided to write them into little stories that she could read about the time she was in Australia and met a kangaroo, or how I sang her lullabies each night.”