Kelly Clarkson changes lyrics to hit song after divorce

Singer’s 2015 version originally included lyrics about how her then-husband had been a better parent and husband than her father

Kelly Clarkson has changed the lyrics to her 2015 song “Piece by Piece” following her divorce from Brandon Blackstock.

The singer, 41, filed for divorce from her husband of seven years in 2020, citing irreconcilable differences. It was eventually settled in March 2022.

Since then, Clarkson has been outspoken about her divorce, even calling her latest album Chemistry a “divorce” record.

On Saturday (5 August), during the former American Idol champion’s Las Vegas residency at the Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood, Clarkson shared a new version of her 2015 anthem.

“This song I initially wrote just super hopeful right? And well, sometimes hopeful turns into hopeless, so here we go. ‘Piece by Piece’,” she told the crowd.

Clarkson’s original version included lyrics about how her then-husband “filled the holes” that her father burned into her at six years old.

However, the “Breakaway” singer’s new version swapped all the pronouns referring to Blackstock to singular first-person pronouns.

“Piece by piece, I collected me / Off the ground where you abandoned things / Piece by piece, I filled the holes / That you burned in me at six years old / I just walk away when they ask for money / I take care of me, ‘cause I love me / Piece by piece, I restored my faith / That a heart can still beat even when it breaks,” Clarkson sang.

The Grammy-winning artist married Blackstock in 2013, two years after they started dating. The pair welcomed their first child together, daughter River, in 2014 and son Remington in 2016. Blackstock has two other children from his previous marriage to Melissa Ashworth.

In previous conversations about her relationship with Blackstock, Clarkson described their split as being the “hardest thing” she has had “to navigate”.

During an earlier appearance on the Today show, the singer admitted that she became “lonely” in Los Angeles, following the divorce.

“I think Covid pointed out a lot of things. A lot of us didn’t make it relationship-wise,” she said at the time. “Also it just proved I’ve never really liked living in LA… I never wanted to live there in the first place. It was just me and my kids all the way on that coast. All my family lives on this coast. So it just got lonely.”

Ahead of her 10th studio album Chemistry’s June release, Clarkson appeared to slight her ex-husband in a teaser of its lead single, “Mine”.

On Instagram, in April, she shared a video belting the lyrics: “Someone’s gonna show you how a heart can be used / like you did mine.”

“This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship,” Clarkson said in a March Instagram video. “The good, the bad and the ugly.”