Random Facts
Quick Facts
Date of Birth: 24 April 1982, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Birth Name: Kelly Brianne Clarkson
Nickname: Kellbelle
Height: 5′ 3½” (1.61 m)
Trade Mark: Performs barefoot
Family: Jeanne (mom), Jimmy Taylor (stepdad), Jason (brother), Alyssa (sister)
Fave Artists: Reba McEntire, Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, No Doubt, etc.
Fave Song: Des’ree “Kissing You
Trivia
• Originally wanted to be a marine biologist but changed her mind when she saw the movie Jaws (1975).
• Graduated from Burleson High School, Burleson, Texas in 2000.
• Was a cocktail waitress at a comedy club in Arlington, Texas and at Hyena’s Comedy Club in Downtown Fort Worth, Texas.
• Used to work at a bookstore and at a zoo.
• Used to work at Hollywood Theatres in Burleson, Texas.
• Is of Greek, Welsh, and Irish descent.
• As a child, her favorite thing to wear was a Mickey Mouse t-shirt.
• Ranked #92 in FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World (2005).
• Underwent LASIK eye surgery to correct her vision
• Parents divorced when she was six.
• Said in a Reader’s Digest interview that as a toddler, she would often walk around naked and that, to this day, hates wearing clothes. Calls wardrobe fittings “the death of me”.
• Considers her Texas home her “sanctuary” and turns off her cell phone when going home.
• Had jobs as a teenager and determined that once she started making money as a musician, she never wanted to have to take a job for the money. Working with her business manager, she said she has financially set herself up for life.
• Performed Ave Maria for Pope Benedict XVI on April 19, 2008. This took place at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, New York.
In Her Career
• Was an extra on the show “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” (1996).
• Kelly stayed up all night before her “American Idol: The Search for a Superstar” (2002) audition so she wouldn’t sleep through the alarm, which she frequently did in high school.
• She won the first “American Idol” contest, September 4, 2002. Her first single came out in late September of that year.
Beat out more than 10,000 people to land a $1 million recording contract on American Idol.
• Her first single, “A Moment Like This”, set records by jumping from number 52 to the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Her first single sold nearly 250,000 copies in its first week.
• Sang the National Anthem at The Day of Service in Washington D.C., on September 11, 2002.
• Christina Aguilera co-wrote her hit, “Miss Independent”.
• Came in second place in World Idol (2003) (TV).
• Avril Lavigne co-wrote her new single ‘Breakaway’ which is on the soundtrack for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004).
• Debut album, “Thankful” went double platinum.
• Is the first artist in the Billboard Radio Monitor era to hold the No. 1 spot at Mainstream Top 40 and AC during the same week with two different songs (Breakaway and Since U Been Gone).
• Became the first artist to have two songs in the top three of Billboard’s Pop 100 Airplay chart (Since U Been Gone, Behind These Hazel Eyes)
• Her music video for “Because of You” debuted at #1 on TRL. The only other artists to achieve this goal are Britney Spears, Eminem and “N’SYNC”.