Kelly Clarkson Seemingly Calls Out Ex Brandon Blackstock and Divorce Drama in "abcdefu" Song Cover

Kelly Clarkson covered GAYLE's "abcdefu" and changed the lyrics to seemingly reference her divorce from ex Brandon Blackstock, singing: "Forget you and your dad / And the fact that you got half."

By Gabrielle Chung Mar 30, 2023 9:09 PMTags
Watch: Kelly Clarkson Shades Her Ex-Husband With SAVAGE Lyric Change

Since u been gone, Kelly Clarkson has been singing her heart out.

The American Idol alum didn't hold back during a Kellyoke performance on the March 30 episode of her eponymous daytime talk show. Covering "abcdefu" by GAYLE, Kelly changed some of the breakup anthem's lyrics to seemingly touch on her divorce with ex Brandon Blackstock, with whom she shares daughter River Rose, 8, and son Remington Alexander, 6.

"Forget you and your dad / And the fact that you got half / And my broken heart, turned that s--t into art," she belted out. "Forget you and your friends / That I'll never see again / Everybody but your dog / You can all get lost."

The 40-year-old sang the updated lines—reimagined from GAYLE's original lyrics: "F--k you and your mom / And your sister and your job / And your broke-ass car, and that s--t you call art"—three times throughout her performance.

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Kelly Clarkson Through the Years

Though Kelly did not explain the reason behind the remix, the new lyrics appear to reference several aspects of her split with Brandon, such as the drama surrounding the lawsuit from her former father-in-law Narvel Blackstock's management company.

The "fact that you got half" line also seems to be a nod to Kelly's divorce settlement with Brandon, who she agreed to give a one-time payment of over $1.3 million to in addition to monthly spousal and child support.

As for the words about turning heartbreak into art, that could be a nod to the Grammy winner's upcoming album Chemistry, which she recently described as "the arc of an entire relationship."

"I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing because I didn't want everybody to think I was just coming out with some just like, ‘I'm angry. I'm sad,' Kelly said of the record in a March 26 Instagram post. "A whole relationship shouldn't be just brought down to one thing. So there's the good, the bad and the ugly kind of thing going on in it."  

Steve Granitz/WireImage

She added, "Chemistry can be a really amazing, sexy, cool, fun thing, but it can also be very bad for you."

A release date for the project—Kelly's first non-holiday studio album in more than five years—has yet to be announced.

E! News has reached out to a rep for the Blackstock family but hasn't heard back. 

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