In a recent interview Kelly Clarkson talks about her new album “All I Ever Wanted” and the story behind her latest single “My Life Would Suck Without You” (watch music video here>>). Kelly completely denies Katy Perry’s influence on her new album and the rumors she is a lesbian – nope, Kelly loves men way too much to play for the other team.
Kelly also speaks about blogger Perez’s concern for her weight, sexual orientation and the possibility to have a woman as President of the USA. Here are some highlights from Kelly Clarkson’s PopEater interview:
‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ is obviously a tale of love/hate. What was the inspiration behind the song?
Honestly, [songwriting duo] Max [Martin] and Luke [Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald], who wrote [my song] ‘Since U Been Gone’ … it kind of came about the same way. They sent me the song, but it was kind of a different take on the message. I said, “I love the beat, I love the song, but I’d rather it be something I would really say, and I’ll sell it better if it is something I would relate to.” They kind of rewrote the message around this tough take on a sweet relationship. It’s saying, “We’re horrible for each other, but at the same time I don’t want anyone else.”
Your last album, ‘My December,’ was quite a personal affair. How would you describe the new album, ‘All I Ever Wanted’?
It’s kind of like a roller coaster, because 1) I’m a woman, but 2) I love that ride through an album because it tells a story. But there’s some really fun stuff on here that I’ve never done before — like this one song I did with Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic called ‘If I Can’t Have You.’ It’s very like Eurythmics meets the Killers — very different for me. It’s a lot sexier. People think it’s so funny because they know I’m not that girl. Then there’s other stuff like ‘Cry,’ which is the most personal song on the album and is about betrayal. Anyway, [the album] is very personal and all over the place. All my albums always have been. I don’t know about you, but I get really pissed off when I buy an album and every song’s the same. I’m like, “Man, you just wasted my money. I could’ve just got one song.” Some artists complain about leaking a bit of the album with each song. I’m like, “That’s just forcing you to come out with better music.”
Is it accurate to say, as Rolling Stone magazine did, that Katy Perry is a major influence on your new album?
Um, no. I mean, what’s funny … I like Katy Perry. Katy and [new 'American Idol' judge] Kara DioGuardi wrote a song, ‘I Do Not Hook Up,’ which is probably going to be my second single. But we’re very different. I honestly don’t think we’re very comparable. I’m a huge Katy Perry fan, but no, I think people are saying that because I worked with Max and Luke. But I mean, I worked with Max and Luke before [her].
A large part of your fan base is gay, and there’s a longstanding rumor that you are a lesbian. Is there any truth to that?
I get that all the time. People are like, “Are you secretly a lesbian? Because I’d really love it.” Lesbians tell it to me all the time. I’m like, “I’m glad it works for you and I wish I liked women like that because oftentimes men are very hard for me, but I happen to like boys.” I could never be a lesbian. I would never want to date [someone like] myself, ever. I’m a crazy person. I need some kind of stable, quiet man. I don’t really care if you’re black, white, yellow, gay, straight, crazy, whatever. As long as you’re cool and you like the music, and you’re coming out to have a good time at the shows, I don’t really care. I have everything I just said in my family, so I’m just used to being surrounded by that. I just don’t know any different.
Celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton seems especially concerned about your weight and sexuality. How do you handle such scrutiny?
Honestly, I don’t know what the hell I did to [Perez]. He’s very concerned about my sexuality and my weight, which I’m not. I learned at a very young age from my father: “Honey, you’re never gonna be able to control what people think about you or say about you; you might as well just stop worrying about it.” I learned on ‘Idol’ not to read any of it — never. You’re either going to become one these people that you know have just totally lost perspective because everybody’s tooted their horn so much, or you’re gonna crawl in some hole and want to kill yourself because people are just so mean. I enjoy our conversation right now, but I won’t read what we do.
We just elected the first African-American president. Do you think in our time we’ll see a female president?
Oh, definitely. I don’t care regardless — female, male, whatever — I just want someone that’s about change, and that’s what [Barack Obama] campaigned on, and that’s what I’m hoping happens. I’m very much a Barack fan.
[images: wenn.com]
