Kelly Clarkson revealed that she still wants to write with Mariah Carey, despite accidentally declining a potential collaboration with the “Vision of Love” singer during a past episode of The Voice.
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“She knows I adore her because I’ve run into her several times, and she’s probably got me on some security list to keep me away,” revealed Clarkson on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday (October 13). “I did something stupid. [Mariah Carey] came on ‘The Voice,’ and we were working together. And sometimes, I say everything that’s in my brain.”
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Upon meeting, Carey suggested that they both write a song together, and Clarkson indirectly turned down her offer without realizing what she said.
“I was just like “Oh yeah, I don’t really write like that. I can’t be that vulnerable in a room. I usually just write on my own,'” recounted Clarkson. “I walked away, and my friends were like, ‘Do you realize you just told Mariah Carey no?'”
Clarkson went on to clarify what she meant when she described her writing style to Carey. “I meant the best writing from me does not come out in that scenario,” said Clarkson. “I’m usually alone. Any time you see my name on a song, I wrote it usually alone.”
When Fallon asked Clarkson if she would still want to write a song with Carey. “I would love to,” said Clarkson. “I love you, Mariah Carey.”
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In a June 2023 interview, Clarkson praised Carey’s songwriting and said that Carey doesn’t get the credit she deserves as a songwriter. “People don’t give her enough credit,” said Clarkson. “People give her credit as a singer. I don’t think people give her credit as a writer. I don’t think people realize, she wrote all that shit. I think people think of her as a songbird and they don’t think of her as the writer she is.”
The two had an earlier run-in in 2013 when Clarkson performed “People Like Us” during season 12 of American Idol, which featured Carey as one of the judges on the show. Following her performance, Clarkson let out a scream and said, “It’s so nerve-wracking in front of Mariah Carey.” Carey later said to Clarkson, “Darling, I need your opinion on some new stuff.”
In 2020, Clarkson also showed more admiration for Carey’s work when she shared a video of herself covering the 1990 Carey song “Vanishing.”
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
