She’s not holding back! Kelly Clarkson shared the full lyrics of two of her new songs — and they both appear to slam ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.
“‘Mine / Me’ are out everywhere tomorrow 🍷💔☀️,” the American Idol alum, 40, wrote on Thursday, April 13, via Instagram, alongside album art for the two songs. They officially dropped on Friday, April 14.
Both songs discuss going through a breakup and overcoming the heartbreak. In “Me,” Clarkson sings about how she “put her life on hold” and was stuck “always pleasin’ someone” else. She also calls out her former partner as his “insecurity was the death of you and me,” singing: “I never gave you reasons, you’re the one with secrets.”
“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 / Let go of the pain I’ve been holdin’ / Don’t need to need somebody / When I got me,” she belts on the chorus.
The Voice judge released a snippet of a few lines from the chorus of “Mine” earlier this month, “Someone’s gonna show you / How a heart can be used / Like you did mine,” she sings a capella.
“I hope one day someone will take your heart and hold it tight / Make you feel like you’re invincible deep inside / And right when you think that you’ll try again / They cross a line / And steal your shine / Like you did mine,” she croons the bridge.
She also questioned how long she stayed in the relationship: “You know I question every motive, every thing you say / Thought with you maybe my heart wasn’t meant to break / Can’t believe I let you in, I can’t believe I stayed / As long as I stayed.”
At the end of the track, Clarkson cites the karma to come for Blackstock. “And you keep talking it’ll come back / Karma is the truth / I don’t make you look bad, you do darlin’,” she sings. “Sabotage / Your choice of art / Who the hell do you think you are?”
Clarkson’s new music is off her upcoming album, Chemistry, which she worked on during her messy split from Blackstock, 46. Us Weekly confirmed in June 2020 that the “Since You’ve Been Gone” singer filed for divorce from the music manager — with whom she shares daughter River, 8, and son Remington, 6 — after nearly seven years of marriage. The Grammy winner cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split.
“The whole divorce thing happened and I needed to write it,” Clarkson told Variety in September 2022 about working on new music during the turbulent period of her love life. “And then I didn’t know if I was going to release it, because you can be very angry in that state of mind. So some of the songs, they definitely cover the gamut of emotions; there’s everything on the album. It’s almost like the arc of a relationship, because the beginning is so beautiful and so sweet, and then it evolves. And sometimes it doesn’t evolve how you want.”
As the exes navigated their new normal, they were engaged in a lengthy legal battle over the next two years as they fought over their assets, finances and custody of their two children. Clarkson ultimately agreed in their 2022 divorce settlement to pay Blackstock a one-time amount of $1.3 million in addition to $115,000 per month in spousal support until January 2024, according to documents obtained by Us.
The “Breakaway” songstress retained primary custody of their children but also consented to pay $45,601 a month in child support until they turn 18 or can financially support themselves. Blackstock, for his part, was awarded visitation of his kids once a month.
