Kelly Clarkson Warns Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock Before Releasing 'Tell-All' Music Album 'Chemistry'

Kelly Clarkson has moved on from the "messy and painful chapter" of divorce in her life and has released a music album inspired by her experience. Clarkson recently revealed that she forewarned her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock about what to expect from the album before its release. In an exclusive with hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on The Today Show, the Stronger singer revealed that the couple had a "little text exchange" before the release of her deeply emotional and confessional studio album, Chemistry, which came out on June 23.

Clarkson shared that the 'autobiographical' songs took roughly three years to make as she did not feel ready to go public about her painful divorce with Blackstock. The singer eventually decided the right time to release the album. Before that, however, she sent a "warning" to her ex about the "intimate" contents of the album.

She told the hosts, “We did have a little text exchange about it. I don’t even remember why or how it happened, but I was like, ‘Hey, I didn’t just diminish us down to one (thing).’ Do you know what I’m saying? It’s all in there, the ride. The beauty is in there, as well. Now, there’s a lot of pain, but that’s what happens, for all of us.”

According to Daily Mail, Chemistry is set to be Clarkson's first new studio album since 2017. The Breakaway singer did not drop any traditional album after Meaning Of Life, although she released a second Christmas-themed collection When Christmas Comes Around in October 2021.

Speaking exclusively to Variety, Clarkson revealed that she was in the "darkest phase of her life" while penning the songs. She said, "Those were very emotional moments. First of all, I was exhausted emotionally, just from going through a divorce. And I was working very hard, two or three jobs at once, plus flying my kids." The songstress clarified that she often wrote the songs in plans while she traveled back and forth. "[The flights were] dark and, because it was always at nighttime and 35,000 feet in the air, it’s the one place where people aren’t really bothering you and talking to you and wanting something from you, so it was a still environment. I think that’s why. I didn’t plan it. Yeah, there were a lot of tear-filled airplane rides, writing these songs," she said.

Since the album came from a place of darkness, Clarkson often found herself editing her own work, wondering how it would impact Blackstock or her children's privacy once the songs went public. "It's very personal[...]I think when you have kids … you kind of debate, 'What am I going to do here?' So I was very selective about the songs I picked for the album."

Sharing an Instagram post in March, Clarkson explained why she chose the title Chemistry for the album: "I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing. I didn't want everybody to think I was coming out with something just like, 'I'm angry, I'm sad,' just one or two emotions, you know? This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship, and a whole relationship shouldn't be just brought down to one thing."

The newly released album contains 14 tracks, 12 of which were co-written by Clarkson. On her writing process, she said, "I waited until I was like through it. So now it's like a different chapter for me. So I had to wait to put this out so that I could have interviews and just honestly so I wouldn't be crying in all of them. It's very intense going through that kind of loss, it's grief."

Clarkson, 41, and Blackstock, 46, were married for almost seven years before the Piece by Piece singer filed for divorce in June 2020 due to "irreconcilable differences." The ex-couple share two children: a daughter River Rose, 9, and a son Remington "Remy" Alexander, 7.