Kelly Clarkson was born April 24， 1982 in Burleson， Texas. Before becoming a singer， Kelly originally aspired to be a marine biologist， but when she was encouraged by the choir teacher at her junior high to join the school choir， her dreams changed. She started starring in school played and continued on with her involvement in choir. When she graduated high school， Kelly started working on demo and got serious about pursing her musical career.

After high school， Kelly went to Hollywood to make her name， and she appeared as an extra on an episode of Sabrina， the Teenage Witch but no other opportunities materialized. Upon returning to Burleson， Kelly worked at a movie theater， promoted Red Bull energy drinks and ultimately worked as a cocktail waitress at a comedy club before entering the American Idol contest.

At that time， Kelly didnt have much luck breaking into the biz. Just when Kelly Clarkson was ready to give up， her best friend， Jessica， convinced her to try out for American Idol. Suddenly Kelly was really on her way to becoming a music superstar.

One of 10，000 aspiring singers， Clarkson distinguished herself not only with her big， surprisingly mature voice， but also with her down-to-earth charm and sense of humor： at one of her auditions， she switched places with the judge Randy Jackson， who did an impromptu version of R. Kellys Believe I Can Fly. Over the course of the 13-week show， her consistently strong performances of songs like Respect， Natural Woman， Stuff Like That There and Without You earned Clarkson enough audience votes to claim one of the contests two finalist positions.

After singing A Moment Like This and Before Your Love， both of which were written for the show， Kelly won the American Idol contest with 58 percent of the audiences votes. In addition to the shows prize of a $1 million recording contract with RCA， Clarkson secured a deal with Creative Artists Agency and several bookings， including the national American Idol tour and a performance of the national anthem at the September 11 commemoration at Washington， DCs Lincoln Memorial. Despite her newfound fame， Kellyopted to remain in Texas rather than move to New York or Los Angeles.

Her first single， A Moment Like This， was released just two weeks after she won the contest and quickly earned platinum sales. Her first single sold nearly 250，000 copies in its first week and set records by jumping from number 52 to the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Kelly Clarkson really hasnt slowed down since taking home the American Idol crown. Soon after she won， her debut album， Thankful was released. It has featured songs like Miss Independent and Beautiful Disaster. Some thought that Kellys time in the spotlight might be over after her first disc， but she came back in late 2004 with her second disc， Breakaway. Breakaway turned out to be even better than Thankful， featuring hit singles like Breakaway and Since U Been Gone. This latest CD proves that Kelly isnt just a reality TV celebrity， shes a talented singer who still has a lot more to offer.

Kelly has showed her voice full of spirit in her two debut albums， which appeared variant style. She has also cooperated with lots of contemporary tip authors. Expect that Kelly brought into play in the works of R&B; and Rock full of individuality， she is anxious to try other field as Country Music or even Broadway drama and so on： “Probably one day the song what I have written or sung can touch someones heart， and it is worth while. Why will mark a field from being limited to be absorbed in some style only？ I like all kinds of the music！”

“I dont advocate only beautiful and bright life， but my ambition is very strong， I hope I can break into international market. In front of me， I still have many things to do， and I am thankful for getting such chance very much. However， all these seem to be too quickly， it makes very difficult for me to stop to think of many other things. At present I feel very joyful for getting this condition， and making singing every day as my job. When I looked at Jaws ago， I know I am unfit to act as marine biologist！”

凱麗·克萊克森1982年4月24日出生在美國德克薩斯州的伯爾森市。成為歌手之前，凱麗想當一名海洋生物學家。但是在凱麗上七年級的時候，學校的合唱隊老師鼓勵她加入了學校的唱詩班，她的夢想便從此改變了。從那時起，凱麗開始亮相各種各樣的校園劇，并成了合唱團的一員。高中畢業(yè)后，她進入了娛樂圈，努力開展自己的歌唱事業(yè)。

高中畢業(yè)后，凱麗進入好萊塢，想闖出一番名堂來，但那時，除了在《塞布麗娜》的《少年女巫》一集中當過一名臨時演員外，她再也沒有找到其他機會成名。重新回到伯爾森之前，凱麗曾經(jīng)在某一電影院工作過，推銷“紅?！背茱嬃希敝羺⒓印睹绹枷瘛分?，她還在一家戲劇俱樂部做過雞尾酒女招待。

那時，凱麗運氣不太好，她無法改變這種局面，就在她準備要放棄的時候，她最要好的朋友杰西卡勸凱麗去參加《美國偶像》選秀大賽。很快，凱麗真正開始了她的音樂巨星之旅。

克萊克森能夠在上萬名熱情洋溢的參賽者中脫穎而出，不僅僅因為她擁有洪亮、超乎尋常的成熟歌喉，還因為她樸實的魅力和幽默感：一次試唱中，凱麗和評判蘭迪·杰克遜交換位置，他即興翻唱了雷·凱麗的歌《我相信我能夠飛翔》。在近13周的表演中，凱麗連續(xù)完美地詮釋了像《尊敬》《天然女人》《像那樣的材料》《沒有你》等許多優(yōu)美歌曲，贏得了無數(shù)觀眾的支持，成功地拿到了一張晉級決賽的入場券。

在演唱了《閃亮的日子》和《在你的愛之前》這兩首專門為該節(jié)目所寫的歌曲之后，凱麗最終以58%的觀眾選票支持率，獲得了《美國偶像》比賽的冠軍。還以100萬美元的酬金與RCA唱片公司簽約，同時與創(chuàng)新藝人經(jīng)紀公司等其他一些公司也都簽了約，演出活動包括美國《美國偶像》之旅、華盛頓“911”紀念日的國家贊美歌，和林肯紀念日的表演。盡管如今的凱麗早已是名聲在外，但她還是選擇了留在得克薩斯，放棄去紐約和洛杉磯發(fā)展的機會。

僅僅在凱麗贏得比賽冠軍兩周之后，她的首張單曲《閃亮的日子》就開始發(fā)行了，銷量喜人。首張單曲才發(fā)行一周，就創(chuàng)下了兩項紀錄——在進榜第二周就從全美100單曲榜的第52名直沖冠軍寶座，創(chuàng)下告示牌雜志單曲榜上躍升最多席次直達冠軍的紀錄，而這張單曲也以近25萬張的銷量，創(chuàng)下《告示牌雜志》單周單曲的銷售紀錄。

自從贏得了“美國偶像”桂冠之后，凱麗·克萊克森就沒有真正地停下來過。很快，以《獨立小姐》和《美麗災(zāi)難》為主打歌的首張個人專輯《謝謝你的愛》發(fā)行了。就在一些人猜測凱麗的光環(huán)將會在首張專輯發(fā)行之后慢慢消退時，2004年年底，凱麗完成了以《美夢成真》和《自從你離去》為主打歌的第二張專輯《美夢成真》，顯然該專輯的水平要遠遠超出首張專輯《謝謝你的愛》。近期的CD唱片也足以證明，凱麗不僅僅是一名電視節(jié)目打造的名人，而且是一名能顯示更多才能的天才歌手。

凱麗在她兩張多元風格的專輯中展現(xiàn)出了她飽含靈性的唱腔，她也已和許多當代最頂尖的詞作者合作過。除了已在充滿個性的R&B;以及搖滾作品方面有所發(fā)揮外，她對其他領(lǐng)域，像鄉(xiāng)村音樂甚至百老匯舞臺劇等，也都躍躍欲試：“或許有一天我寫的或是我唱的歌會打動某個人的心，這樣就很值得了。干嗎要故步自封只專注于某種風格？我喜歡所有類型的音樂！”

“我并不崇尚光鮮亮麗的生活，但是我的進取心很強，我很希望能夠打進國際市場，在我面前還有很多事要做，我很感激能有這樣的機會。這一切好像都來得太快，讓我?guī)缀鹾茈y停下腳步、想些其他事情。目前，對于得到現(xiàn)在的工作環(huán)境，并以唱歌作為我每天的工作，我覺得很開心。以前我看《大白鯊》的時候，就知道我不適合做海洋生物學家了！”