Kelly Clarkson on new music, family life
NEW YORK—KELLY Clarkson already has a stacked resume—singer, songwriter, talk-show host, “Voice” coach, children’s book author and mother of four. Now, she’s adding travel to the mix.
Clarkson has been named godmother of Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship, Norwegian Encore, and the pop star said she signed on to the project because it aligned with the things that are most important to her life: families spending time together, humanitarian work and live music.
“That’s where I’m at in my career. It’s not just about singing. It’s not just about the talk show. It’s about all of it tying together and making sense organically,” Clarkson said. “That’s when I start to say ‘yes’ to things at this point in my career, because I don’t need to say ‘yes’ necessarily because I’m super-blessed. I say ‘yes’ when it fits.”
Clarkson, 37, will perform at the ship’s christening ceremony on Thursday in Miami. She jokes about being a godmother for the first time and is excited to finally take a vacation that suits all her children, whose ages range from 3 to 18.
On NBC’S “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Clarkson gave away free cruises to 20 music educators as part of her partnership with Norwegian. The new ship will also have a reading room named in honor of Clarkson’s daughter River Rose called the River Rose Reading Room.
“Reading is important to our family. We do it every night with our kids. My mom is a teacher, so I definitely was a teacher’s kid,” she said.
Clarkson, who won “American Idol” in 2002 and immediately became a chart-topping singer, said she was surprised at the different fields that she had been able to explore in her career.
“All I did was get in trouble for talking too much,” she said. “I definitely never thought I’d be in this position.”
Clarkson said her music fans shouldn’t be worried though—she recently recorded what she calls “one of my favorite songs I’ll probably ever do in my career.” She will also launch her Las Vegas residency on April 1, 2020.