Whether you like it or not, Kelly Clarkson has a big personality. She's not scared to speak out on controversial issues or speak her mind in general. We respect it! Whether it's clapping back at the body-shamers or defending the rights of women to write and produce the kind of music they want to record, Kelly uses her voice for much more than singing.
Her fateful American Idol win launched her from a no-name Southern girl, sleeping in her car, to a multi-millionaire with more than 25 million copies of her albums sold to date, according to Billboard. That said, Simon Cowell told Entertainment Weekly, "It had nothing to do with American Idol. It had everything to do with the fact that she made a great record and she's got an incredible voice. She's not a girl who got lucky in a talent competition; we got lucky to find her."
In the years since her rise to fame, Kelly has collected an impressive selection of famous friends, but not everyone sings her praises as highly as Simon does. Read on for our list of stars who count themselves among her closest friends, plus six celebs who actually can't stand her.
20 Blake Shelton (Part Of Her Circle)
Blake and Kelly have a lot in common. For one, they costar on The Voice. Kelly's husband Brandon Blackstock also happens to be Blake's long-time manager, according to People. They've been friends off-screen for so long that Kelly considers Blake to be like family. "He’s like the sweetest person ever," she told Variety. "He’s actually the nicest human ever and yeah, he’s like the greatest big brother."
19 Hayley Kiyoko (Part Of Her Circle)
This fall, Kelly took her career to new heights as the host of her own daytime talk show on NBC. The Kelly Clarkson Show features Kelly chatting with various celebrities. Some of the earliest guests were people Kelly considered personal friends, and Hayley is one of those people. The two shared their joint passion for self-confidence with fans...and hugged it up in front of the cameras. Aww.
18 Matt Damon (Part Of Her Circle)
You might not picture these two being close, but they're part of the same main friend group, which is made up of Hollywood A-listers. Here they are at an Indy 500 race this past year, with their respective spouses. Kelly shared this snap to her IG. In the caption for it, she called out one of their mutual friends,...somebody named "Freddy." We wonder which famous Fred she was referring to...
17 Clay Aiken (Part Of Her Circle)
Remember him? Clay was a runner-up on the second season of Idol and then had arguably more success in the singing business than the winner of that season, Ruben Studdard. Kelly and Clay toured together in 2004, and she told Newsweek they remain friends today. The one thing she won't do for Clay? Watch his son, she says. "Clay would know better than to have me babysit his child."
16 Alicia Keys (Part Of Her Circle)
Kelly and Alicia were both judges on The Voice in 2018. That was Kelly's first season on the show and Alicia couldn't have been happier to welcome her to the panel. She told Extra TV that Kelly "brings a great energy" to the whole room, and we believe it! It's easy to see how these two got along, from all the laughs they shared in those famous over-sized spinning chairs.
15 Demi Lovato (Part Of Her Circle)
If you ask Kelly herself, she'll tell you that Demi is "one of her girls." That's what she told fans at an L.A. concert where she covered Demi's hit, "Cool for the Summer." Kelly sang it as a little tribute to Demi, as the concert was happening on Demi's 23rd birthday. When word got back to Demi about the surprise cover, she tweeted: "Best bday gift ever!" So sweet.
14 Simon Cowell (Part Of Her Circle)
If you think about it, Kelly Clarkson owes a whole lot of her success to Simon Cowell. He was a driving force in letting her rise through the rounds of season one of American Idol, skyrocketing her singing career. The pair showed that they were still close when Kelly presented Simon with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and they hugged it out in full view of the paps.
13 John Legend (Part Of Her Circle)
Pals John and Kelly were friends even before both were cast as judges on The Voice. "Kelly and I have known each other over the years. We've really grown to love each other as singers and as people, " John told TV Insider. Kelly feels the same. "I was so excited when I learned that John was joining season 16," she added. "He's a really really good dude."
12 Chrissy Teigen (Part Of Her Circle)
A perk of having great coworkers is that sometimes, they also have great partners who you can befriend by association. There is possibly no cooler partner than Chrissy Teigen. We love her, you love her, John Legend obviously loves her, and she loves Kelly Clarkson. Here she is, pictured cheering on Kelly (at her husband's expense!) while The Voice was being filmed. Cuuute.
11 Reba McEntire (Part Of Her Circle)
"Kelly Clarkson and I are family," Reba told Us Weekly magazine. This isn't technically true. Kelly and Reba have no family connections whatsoever. They started out as a singer (Reba) and a superfan (Kelly), but have clearly formed a tight bond over time since Kelly's Idol win and resulting fame.
10 Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson (Part Of Her Circle)
If this isn't a true friend, we don't know what is. The Rock actually CUT HIS HONEYMOON SHORT to come through for his pal and appear as the very first guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show. He'd just married the completely stunning Lauren Hashian a few weeks prior. "I DID LEAVE MY HONEYMOON EARLY?" he tweeted in all caps for some reason. "(LAUREN APPROVED COS SHE LOVES KELLY)."
9 Taylor Swift (Part Of Her Circle)
Is there any high-power woman in music who Taylor HASN'T added to her army of gal pals? Kelly's no different from Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Carrie Underwood (more on her later) when it comes to cozying up to Miss Swift. No news on how their friendship started but being female singers at the top of their game is probably reason enough for them to bond, in our opinion.
8 Jennifer Garner (Part Of Her Circle)
Another bestie to support Kelly, by appearing on her new talk show within the first few weeks of its first airing, is Jennifer Garner. These two seem to be super wholesome country girlfriends and we are here for it. Kelly gave insight into their friendship when she tweeted "Jennifer Garner will forever be my favorite partner with games! She’s a beast and so much fun!"
7 Carrie Underwood (Part Of Her Circle)
Forget what you might have heard - these Idol alums are close friends IRL. "Everybody always tries to pit me and Carrie against each other, and people always try to put it together like we’re enemies", Kelly told Entertainment Tonight. Carrie agreed the rumors were stupid, tweeting that she wished "more publications would just celebrate women’s success without pitting them against each other."
6 Clive Davis (Doesn’t Like Her)
Clive is the CEO of RCA Records, the label that put out Kelly's first album and helped her launch her career, post-Idol. Looking back on that time, Kelly told Variety Clive was "a bully" who ran an "incredibly not-healthy environment," and Clive responded by saying she hasn't had "the same level of success" since recording with other labels. These two are just enemies these days.
5 Tamron Hall (Doesn’t Like Her)
Former Today Show co-host, Tamron Hall, struck out on her own in September of this year, with a talk show that launched the exact same day and time as Kelly's. When Kelly's got broad acclaim and an early renewal for its second season, Tamron "blew a gasket," a member of her writing staff told The Daily Mail. As one of Kelly's famous friends would say, now they've got bad blood.
4 Steve Harvey (Doesn’t Like Her)
In May 2019, the last episode of The Steve Harvey Show aired, as NBC booted him in favor of Kelly. As you probably know already, The Kelly Clarkson Show has been airing since September and become somewhat of a runaway hit. Steve admitted, in a video posted to his wife's IG account, that he was less than thrilled about this change, and Kelly is the reason for it.
3 Dr. Luke (Doesn’t Like Her)
You’ve heard of Dr. Luke (Lucasz Sebastian Gottwald)...he's the music producer Kesha had issues with a few years back. Kelly’s another woman who doesn’t get along with this man.
“A lot of artists that have worked with him don’t work with him anymore for pretty good, solid reasons,” she told KIIS FM. “He’s not a good person to me. We’ve clashed. I can’t really say anything other than that.”
2 Molly Stevens (Doesn’t Like Her)
Kelly put her foot in her mouth again when she compared The Voice contestant, Molly Stevens, (who happens to date women) to a handful of other famous singers (who also happen to date women). Molly told Cosmopolitan that Kelly was "small-minded," adding that getting compared only to other gay artists is "a common stereotype that happens too often. People put us in boxes."
1 Katie Hopkins (Doesn’t Like Her)
British pop culture personality Katie Hopkins is known for making bold and controversial statements on the regular, and, since 2015, Kelly has been an ongoing target. Dismissing Kelly's talent altogether, she told hosts of the panel talk show, Loose Women, that "ultimately Kelly Clarkson is a chunky monkey." Kelly lashed out right back, on Twitter, and the feud has been raging ever since. Yikes.
Sources: RollingStone.com, DailyMail.co.uk, Cosmopolitan.com, GoodHousekeeping.com, Flavorwire.com, TasteOfCountry.com, Today.com, Newsweek.com, Variety.com, People.co.uk, Billboard.com
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