Kelly Clarkson Reveals If She’ll Sing Ballad Inspired by Ex Brandon Blackstock in Concert Anymore

“I was pregnant with my first child, and we were in a different place — it was very different,” said Clarkson of 2015’s “Piece by Piece”

Brandon Blackstock and Kelly Clarkson in 2018

Having just released an album inspired by the rise and fall of her relationship with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, will Kelly Clarkson be able to sing love songs written amid the early bliss of their marriage?

In a new interview on the Las Culturistas podcast, the Grammy winner spoke about her feelings toward performing 2015’s emotional love song “Piece by Piece” at her upcoming Las Vegas residency in support of her new album, Chemistry.

“We’re putting the setlist together for Vegas right now,” Clarkson, 41, teased on the program to hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. “I don’t want to sing [‘Piece by Piece’], because that was a very hopeful place and a place of projecting what one wishes and what one hopes one didn’t fall prey to again.”

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“Piece by Piece” is sung from the perspective of Clarkson talking to her father about how Blackstock fills a better role as a parent and husband than his neglectful approach. The song acts as a sequel to 2004’s “Because of You,” which is also sung to the musician’s father about how his absent parenting caused her pain and hardship.

Five years after “Piece by Piece” came out — and wowed audiences in an emotional American Idol performance — Clarkson filed from divorce from Blackstock, 46, with whom she shares two kids: daughter River Rose and son Remington Alexander.

Despite her changing feelings toward the ballad, however, she understands the perspective from which it was written and what it means to her listeners.

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Kelly Clarkson

“Here’s where I landed, because I went from hardcore pass to, you know what, for a moment in my life — I was pregnant with my first child and we were in a different place — it was very different,” Clarkson recalled.

“So, I’m going to respect that chapter, and I’m going to respect what happened there. And what I was feeling there is not lost — I did feel that, and that was real at one point,” reflected the American Idol alum.

Ultimately, she will “still” perform “Piece by Piece” in her upcoming residency shows — “not only for fans, but for that girl that did believe wholeheartedly that that’s what was happening, and that’s what I saw.”

Clarkson continued, “I know that that’s incredibly sad to think about. But, you know, it’s real.”

Kelly Clarkson

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Released earlier this month, Chemistry features two songs that feature references to “Piece by Piece.” On the track “Me,” she sings in the chorus: “I don’t need somebody to hold me / Don’t need somebody to love me / Don’t need somebody to pick these pieces up / I put together my broken.”

“Rock Hudson,” Clarkson’s latest single, features the lyrics: “By the way, piece by piece / I found out my hero’s me.”

Las Culturistas is a podcast from iHeartMedia and Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network.