Clarkson isn’t quiet about ‘ Hamilton’ song
Singer brings her own take to the mournful number
Kelly Clarkson remembers exactly where she was the first time she heard It’s Quiet Uptown.
“It was 3 in the morning and I was bawling inmy closet,” she says of the gut- wrenching song, written by LinManuel Miranda for his Broadway phenomenon Hamilton. The singer covers the number on the Tony Award- winning musical’s star- studded companion album, The Hamilton Mixtape ( out Friday).
Uptown is sung late in the founding fathers “hip- hopera” as Alexander and Eliza Hamilton ( spoiler alert!) grieve the loss of their son. Understandably, it struck an emotional chord for Clarkson, 34, who is a newmomto son Remington ( 7 months) and daughter River ( 2).
She tells USA TODAY about her spin on the fan favorite and what she makes of Vice President- elect Mike Pence’s recent trip to the sold- out smash:
Q So when did you see Hamilton? A I actually saw it after I recorded the song. I was literally only two weeks from giving birth when I recorded it and I was like, “Oh, my gosh, this is the most beautiful thing ever.” But I was sobbing, because I was pregnant withmy son. I knew there was a loss of a son in the musical, so I took that pretty hard.
Q How did you set out to make It’s Quiet Uptown your own? A ( In the musical), there’s three singers on it. So when ( Miranda) sent it to me, I was like: “Great, who am I? ... Letme try to do it as a solo and see how it plays out.”
( Atlantic Records chairman Craig Kallman) basically said, “What would your play be on it if you did something a little more pop, but it still had that theatrical edge to it?” ... We kept saying, “Think black and white, walking around the city on the saddest day ever, but maybe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” So you’re kind of going off all these poetic things. Q If you could have recorded any other song from Hamilton, what would it have been? AI secretly love rapping, because I just love the tongue- twister aspect of it. So I would’ve loved to have sung— for fun, not for real— My
Shot. That’s such a cool song. I love Burn, too. Andra Day did such a great job with that ( on the mixtape). It is frickin’ ridiculous, it’s so perfect for her voice.
Q What did you make of the cast’s speech to Mike Pence and Donald Trump’s demand for an apology? AHere’s
the thing: That’s the great thing about our country. I watched ( the speech) and thought they did it in a tasteful way. That’s what the musical’s about— you can’t come to a political musical and not expect some reaction. ( In the 1700s), the country was divided and the country is divided now, so there are a lot of parallels.
I’mnot a supporter by anymeans of Mike Pence, but I did think he handled that well ( when he) said, “Hey, that’s what freedom sounds like.” I’mnot a Pence fan, but I’m a fan of that.