Kelly Clarkson rose to fame in 2002 when she competed and won the first season of American Idol, which would go on to propel her for superstardom that very same year.
With hits such as Since U Been Gone, Walk Away, Breakaway, and Miss Independent, it almost seemed as if Clarkson had become a force to be reckoned with after inking her first record deal with RCA and Syco.
Her debut album Thankful went on to sell a whopping three million copies in the U.S., but it was her second offering, Breakaway, which really turned the 39-year-old is a full-fledged pop phenomenon, having heavily worked with the likes of Dr. Luke and Max Martin for the project.
Breakaway won two Grammys and sold over 12 million copies globally. Clarkson was unstoppable at this point in her career, but what fans didn’t know was that she had been having a lot of disputes with her record label executives, with music industry vet Clive Davis having once described the singer as difficult to work with. Here’s the lowdown…
Is Kelly Clarkson Hard To Work With?
Clarkson worked with Davis from the beginning of her career, when she inked her record deal with RCA and Syco.
But in February 2013, the music mogul made some bold claims about the pop star in his tell-all memoir The Soundtrack of My Life, including claims that Clarkson had shown diva-like behavior while they were putting together her third album, My December.
When the record was played to Davis in full, he believed there weren’t any potential radio-friendly songs, which worried him since both of Clarkson’s previous albums were very much driven around Pop music.
He recalled having a conversation with the Piece by Piece singer’s manager at the time, saying that they would be out of their mind to release the album without any potential hits.
In the book, Davis boldly said that he believes the record ended up underperforming because Clarkson had co-written most of the tracks, and since she didn’t want to take his advice to rework the project and produce more radio-friendly songs, it ultimately affected the record’s overall chart performance.
In response to that, Clarkson wasted no time to write a statement in response to what she had read about herself in Davis’ book.
“Well, first let me say, I've co-penned many of my ‘pop hits,’” she gushed. “Secondly, My December went platinum (It sold 20,000 less than All I Ever Wanted which followed My December.) Hardly a huge failure."
“Never Again, the ONLY single they released in the US from that record was a Top 10 hit.
“I am very proud of that and I have my fans to thank. But, again, what's most interesting about his story is what he leaves out: He doesn't mention how he stood up in front of his company at a convention and belittled me and my music and completely sabotaged the entire project.”
Did Kelly Refuse To Sing Since U Been Gone?
According to Davis’ book, Clarkson threw a tantrum in his office when he demanded that Since U Been Gone — which is the singer’s best-selling song of her career — was to be featured on her second album, Breakaway.
Apparently, the mother-of-two didn’t like the track and supposedly wanted to scrap it the minute she heard it, and it became a back and forth argument between Davis and Clarkson, with the latter eventually giving in to put the song on her album after all.
But Clarkson’s recollection was rather different.
She continued to explain that she was actually at war with Davis because he had called her a “sh**ty writer” who should be grateful of the music career that had been handed to her.
“I did cry in his office once. I cried after I played him a song I had written about my life called Because Of You,” she explained.
“I cried because he hated it and told me verbatim that I was a "s****y writer" who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon me.
Clarkson added: “He continued on about how the song didn't rhyme and how I should just shut up and sing. This was devastating coming from a man who I, as a young girl, considered a musical hero and was so honoured to work with.”
The pair have not worked together ever since, though Davis went on to say that he “still believes in her [Kelly] as an artist.”
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