In an interview with MTV on December 2009, Clarkson said "There's still some like singer/songwriter stuff, but there's. "This album was influenced by Prince, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Radiohead and there's a little bit of a Country vibe/influence on a couple of songs." I love working, but at the end of the day you've got to take care of yourself." Development I came down with 'walking pneumonia' for the second time in a year. That's when it finally all caught up with me. Everyone was making a lot of money, so everyone was pushing the train. I learnt well under pressure, but, like, four years passed by and I hit rock bottom, Breakaway just exploded everywhere. Clarkson, who had a hectic schedule following the release of her second album Breakaway, admitted that her music career had a bad effect on her health, saying "Because my career went from zero to 100, there was no 'growing'. Clarkson took a six-month break from her music career in 2010. Clarkson remarked she would focus on recording for her upcoming album instead. However, low ticket sales and scheduling conflicts led Clarkson and Norah Jones to cancel their upcoming performances. On March 4, 2010, Clarkson was announced to perform on the revived Lilith Fair music festival. Later, during an interview with Chart Show TV, Clarkson revealed that she wanted to do something different for the album. Clarkson promoted Stronger in two concert tours, the Stronger Tour and the 2012 Summer Tour with American alternative rock band, The Fray.ĭuring an interview with MTV News in November 2009, Clarkson stated that while performing on the All I Ever Wanted Tour, she would also be in the process of writing new material for her fifth studio album, which she hoped for a late 2010 release. The final single, " Dark Side", was released to moderate success, attaining top-ten positions in three countries. It topped the charts in the United States, Poland, Denmark, and Slovakia and attained top-ten positions in over twenty countries around the world. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" became the album's most successful release and Clarkson's most successful single overall. Know It All" topped the charts in Australia and South Korea and attained top-ten positions in four countries, including the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Stronger received four nominations at the 55th Grammy Awards: It won Best Pop Vocal Album and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)". Internationally, it debuted within the top-ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, Stronger debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and became her first record to be certified platinum in five years by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) since My December. Upon its release, Stronger received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised Clarkson's vocal performance, but noted its lack of progression, unlike her previous albums. The album's lyrical content mainly explores themes about heartbreak, vengeance, forgiveness and empowerment through metaphors about Clarkson's relationships around people. The record is predominantly a pop rock album, with several music critics noting the predominant R&B and country influences Clarkson explored in Thankful (2003) and All I Ever Wanted, as well as dance-pop themes which she had recently developed. Despite its original intent to be released in late 2010, the release date of the album was pushed back several times. The album also marked the first release by Clarkson that did not cause a conflict with RCA her previous records, most notably My December (2007), were released amidst conflict and controversy.Ĭlarkson began writing new material for the album in November 2009 while touring and finished recording in February 2011.
Wanting to stray away sonically from her previous albums, Clarkson's main objective was to record her vocal performances as it is heard in her live sets, and used as little auto-tune processing as possible. The thirteen-song track-list features Clarkson collaborating with various new producers as well as with Howard Benson, whom she collaborated with on her previous album, All I Ever Wanted (2009). Stronger is the fifth studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released on Octoby RCA Records.