Kelly Clarkson Seemingly Calls Out Ex Brandon Blackstock in Scathing New Songs

Kelly Clarkson's new single "Me" appears to reference her 2015 track "Piece by Piece," a song about her romance with Brandon Blackstock. Read the lyrics.

By Gabrielle Chung Apr 13, 2023 9:14 PMTags
Watch: Kelly Clarkson Seemingly Calls Out Ex-Husband in SCATHING New Songs

Kelly Clarkson is perfectly fine being Miss Independent. 

One day before the release of her two new singles "Me" and "Mine," from her 10th studio album Chemistry, the American Idol alum shared the lyrics to the tracks—which both appear to be about getting over a breakup. Alongside emojis of a wine glass, broken heart and sun, Kelly wrote on Instagram April 13, "Here are the lyrics so y'all can learn them before it's out."

On "Me," Kelly sings about losing her identity during a particularly difficult relationship.

"Loved you so much / Took an army to pull me up," the lyrics reads. "But now on the other side / I remembered I could fly."

And the chorus of the tune seemingly references Kelly's 2015 single "Piece by Piece," a song about then-husband Brandon Blackstock where she sings that he "filled the holes" left by her own parents' divorce.

"I don't need somebody to hold me / Don't need somebody to love me / Don't need somebody to pick these pieces up," the 40-year-old sings on her latest track. "I put together my broken / Let go of the pain I've been holdin' / Don't need to need somebody / When I got me." 

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Kelly Clarkson Through the Years

Kelly and Brandon, 46, were married for almost seven years when the talk show host filed for divorce in 2020. Their marriage was legally dissolved two years later, with the former couple agreeing to share legal custody of their daughter River Rose, 8, and son Remington Alexander, 6.

 

Mike Coppola/FilmMagic

Last month, Kelly described Chemistry—her first non-holiday album since the split—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,'" she said 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."  

A release date for the album has yet to be announced, though the singer recently admitted that she's "nervous on a personal level" to share her new music with the world.

Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal

"I've always written with a vulnerable heart, so I'm very open. I'm not nervous about that," Kelly explained during a March 29 appearance on On-Air With Ryan Seacrest. "I think I'm just more nervous on a personal note because it's one of those things where I'm going to have to keep talking about it and keep performing."

Kelly's songs "Me" and "Mine" off Chemistry are out April 14.

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