Kelly Clarkson tears up performing ‘Piece by Piece’ with lyric change 12 days earlier than Brandon Blackstock’s demise

Kelly Clarkson carried out an emotionally charged rendition of "Piece by Piece" not lengthy earlier than the demise of Brandon Blackstock, her ex-husband and father of her two youngsters.

Blackstock, a former expertise supervisor, died Aug. 7 at 48 following a three-year battle with most cancers. Clarkson saved the household matter personal, however a resurfaced clip from the July 26 present of the Grammy winner's now-postponed Las Vegas residency seems to allude to the tolls of the analysis.

Clarkson broke down in tears earlier than a efficiency of "Piece by Piece," the 2015 ballad about Blackstock launched two years into their marriage. The tune reads as a letter to her estranged father and dives into how Blackstock "restored [her] religion" that "a person will be form and a father may keep," per the unique lyrics.

“I’ve by no means rewritten a tune extra and I most likely by no means will,” Clarkson advised the viewers earlier than the most recent rendition. “I wrote this tune with a variety of hope and projection for happiness and higher than what was taking place. After which, effectively, life set in, and I needed to change the lyrics. Everyone was like, ‘Wait, why aren’t you singing this tune?’ And I used to be like, ‘Have you ever heard the lyrics?’"

Brandon Blackstock's cause of death revealed Kelly Clarkson's absence from her talk show earlier this year was due to ex-husband Brandon Blackstock's illness

Clarkson first modified the lyrics in 2023, a yr after her divorce from Blackstock was finalized. "We did it one time, I did a residency right here, after which I used to be like, ‘ what, that sounded just a little indignant,’" she stated.
Her relationship with the lyrics and its many iterations, Clarkson defined, has since modified. "I simply wished to elucidate the way it feels now. I’m 43. I’ve carried out some remedy, and I modified the lyrics now and I believe it’s excellent. I promise I’m not gonna change it once more. Screw it, let's simply sing it."

Clarkson separated from Blackstock in 2020 after almost seven years of marriage.

Essentially the most up to date model of the ballad options the brand new addition: “I’m studying day by day find out how to love me / I let go of the disgrace that you simply taught me / piece by piece I restored the religion / {that a} coronary heart can nonetheless beat even when it breaks.”

The singer-songwriter postponed the rest of her Vegas residency final week, sharing in an announcement on Aug. 6 that Blackstock had been ailing and that she wanted to be current for his or her youngsters, daughter River Rose, 11, and son Remington Alexander, 9. The dates had been moved to late July 2026.

"I’m sincerely sorry to everybody who purchased tickets to the reveals, and I so recognize your grace, kindness, and understanding,” Clarkson stated.

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