Kelly Clarkson’s 2023 included some pretty impressive highlights.
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But if you ask the superstar, 41, there’s one memory that bubbles to the top: when her daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington Alexander, 7, joined her onstage at her Las Vegas residency in August. “They were a little nervous, but it was their idea, not mine,” Clarkson tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story of her children, whom she shares with ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.
Performing in front of a sold-out theater, River opted for a duet of her mom’s hit “Heartbeat Song,” while Remington gleefully danced backup as Clarkson sang “Whole Lotta Woman.”
As her kids watched their mom captivate the audience, “I was like, ‘I feel like how you’re looking at me is how you watch Spider-Man,’ ” Clarkson recalls. “It caught me completely off guard, and it was the most magical moment because they were so happy and at ease. They were just in awe.”
Since winning the first season of American Idol in 2002, Clarkson has carved out a singular career in showbiz. Counting 10 studio albums under her belt, she’s also nabbed three Grammys (her latest album Chemistry is nominated for best pop vocal album), served as a coach on The Voice and launched her own talk show, for which she relocated from L.A. to New York City for season 5.
While her talk show just scored six wins at the Daytime Emmy Awards — including outstanding daytime talk series and host for Clarkson — her Vegas residency, which added more shows through the winter, is named after her most recent album, a collection of songs written about the unraveling of her nearly seven-year marriage to Blackstock, her former manager.
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