KELLY CLARKSON

Releases New Album

MEANING OF LIFE

“Meaning of Life will give you goosebumps (…) It packs one soulful punch.”

– Harper’s BAZAAR

Atlantic recording artist Kelly Clarkson has announced a jam-packed slate of high profile activity surrounding today’s release of her hugely anticipated label debut album. Meaning Of Life is available now at all music retailers and streaming services.

Clarkson is celebrating the release of Meaning Of Life with a series of live performances including Monday’s episode of the Ellen DeGeneres Show on channel 9.

Meaning of Life is already among 2017’s most highly regarded new albums, drawing widespread acclaim for singles and track releases including Love So Soft, Move You and the album’s title track, Meaning of Life. The songs have been accompanied by stunning live performance videos filmed earlier this summer at Nashville’s historic War Memorial Auditorium as part of Clarkson’s Nashville Sessions series. The clips are streaming now at Clarkson’s official YouTube alongside the incredible Dave Meyers-directed music video for first single Love So Soft.

Meaning of Life is the album Kelly Clarkson was destined to make with Atlantic Records, a collection of smart and sensual soul-inspired pop that immediately belongs among the legendary label’s classic canon. For her eighth studio album – and follow-up to 2015’s chart-topping Piece By Piece – the multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter united a stellar team of top songwriters and producers to collaborate on her Atlantic debut, among them past collaborators Jason Halbert, Jesse Shatkin and GRAMMY® Award-winning “Producer of the Year” Greg Kurstin as well as first time associates Mick Schultz, The Monarch, and Nick Ruth, among others. As if that weren’t enough, Clarkson is joined by members of the legendary Earth Wind & Fire on one of the album favourites Whole Lotta Woman.

Love So Soft immediately was praised as one on the year’s finest singles upon its release this summer, with the New York Times declaring ”her voice is as big as ever,” while Billboard noted, “If Love So Soft is any indication, Kelly Clarkson’s Atlantic Records debut, Meaning of Life, is going to be massive.” Most recently, the album’s title track was praised as “a celebratory new song,” by Rolling Stone, while Vulture complimented her “show of vocal acrobatics on every inch.” Harper’s Bazaar summed it up best: “Meaning of Life will give you goosebumps… it packs one soulful punch.”

Kelly Clarkson is among the most popular artists of this or any other era, with over 100 US #1 Billboard singles and total worldwide sales of more than 25 million albums and 36 million singles. The Texas-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter first came to fame in 2002 as the winner of the US American Idol’s inaugural season. Clarkson’s debut single, A Moment Like This, followed and quickly went to #1 on the US Billboard’s “Hot 100,” ultimately ranking as the year’s best-selling single in that country. Thankful, Clarkson’s 2003 debut album is accredited ARIA Gold in Australia and nearly 2 x platinum in America.

Breakaway arrived in 2004 and truly affirmed Clarkson as a major pop force via the blockbuster ARIA platinum single Since U Been Gone, which earnt Clarkson a GRAMMY® Award for “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.” The album remains Clarkson’s most successful to date, currently certified 7 x platinum by ARIA and 6 x platinum in the US by RIAA, with sales exceeding 6 million in her home country. Breakaway has been followed by a series of incredible album releases, including 2007’s ARIA gold certified My December, 2009’s ARIA platinum All I Ever Wanted, 2011’s ARIA & US platinum certified –GRAMMY® Award-winning – Stronger, 2013’s Christmas album, Wrapped In Red, and 2015’s Piece By Piece.

Clarkson is without doubt one of pop’s top singles artists, with 17 single releases now boasting multi-platinum, platinum, and gold certifications around the world, including such global favourites as the ARIA gold singles Miss Independent and Because Of You, 3 x platinum ARIA chart #1 single Mr. Know It All, ARIA 3 x platinum Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), ARIA gold Heartbeat Song, and ARIA platinum My Life Would Suck Without You, the last of which holds the US Billboard “Hot 100” record for the biggest chart leap in a single week, from #97 all the way to #1.

One of the most honoured artists in music history, Clarkson has received a truly stunning array of awards and nominations, among them three GRAMMY® Awards including two for “Best Pop Vocal Album” – the first artist to ever twice win that award. In addition, Clarkson has won 12 US Billboard Music Awards, four American Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, two American Country Awards, and one Country Music Association Award. The first artist to top each of Billboard’s pop, adult contemporary, country, and dance charts, Clarkson has made countless TV appearances, including performances during the 14^th season of American Idol – the first ever week of competition dedicated to a previous winner’s discography.

Alongside her incredible musical career, Clarkson has ventured into a variety of film and television projects, including a memorable turn as musical legend Brenda Lee on NBC’s 2003 series, American Dreams. As if all that weren’t enough, Clarkson made her literary debut in 2016 with the best-selling children’s book, River Rose and The Magical Lullaby (HarperCollins). This year will see the release of Clarkson’s follow-up, River Rose and the Magical Christmas, to be published October 24^th by HarperCollins. Clarkson will return to US TV next year in her new role as coach on the eagerly awaited new season of The Voice, set to premiere in February 2018.