Kelly Clarkson recently got emotional while during her NBC Christmas special over amid her divorce from estranged husband Brandon Blackstock.
Clarkson was about to begin singing “Merry Christmas (To the One I Used to Know)” on Kelly Clarkson Presents: When Christmas Comes Around, but began to choke up. “The holidays come with a whole range of emotions,” Clarkson said.
“I’m gonna be real with y’all — when I wrote this next song, I was crying my face off, which happens even at Christmastime, everyone. I had just put my kids to bed and I was just going through it, having a really hard time, and it’s been a really tough year for a lot of us. And I wrote this song for me, but also because there aren’t many holiday songs for people feeling alone or lost or just plain sad other than Dolly Parton’s classic ‘Hard Candy Christmas,’ which we all love. It’s about getting through a tough holiday. I absolutely love that song and it allowed me to write this.”
The final track Clarkson performed during the special was “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You),” which is a holiday breakup song. “I was honestly a little nervous about sharing this one because it’s not your typical Christmas single,” she explained before singing the track.
“But it was the first song that I wrote for this album and I wrote it because a lot of things were taken from us over the last couple of years — people, relationships, jobs, etc. There were so many things taken. But instead of looking at everything that’s gone wrong, we should be looking at all the things that have gone right. And that’s what my therapist tells me anyway so that’s who I’m singing to! But no matter what people try to take from you, nobody can cancel Christmas, y’all.”