Kelly Clarkson put over a rising country star with a Kelly-oke rendition of Avery Anna's "Just Cause I Love You." The segment aired on Thursday's (Dec. 11) episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show."
When sung by Anna, the Gino Barletta, Justin Wilson, Kyle Fishman and Seth Ennis co-write comes across as a homage to indie rock's most recent crop of hearts-on-sleeves singer-songwriters. Clarkson's booming voice brought more of a musical theater vibe.
It wasn't Clarkson's first Kelly-oke nod to Anna. In April of 2022, Clarkson covered another viral hit of Anna's, "Narcissist." Anna reacted to the "Narcissist" cover on TikTok, declaring it to be the "best day of my life."
Anna rose to prominence in 2020 through TikToks of cover songs as well as her first single on the platform, "Just Cause I Love You." A deal with Warner Music Nashville followed. Her label home has since released the 2022 EP Mood Swings as well as several standalone songs— the most recent being the 2023 Dylan Marlowe collaboration "I Will (When You Do)."
As for Clarkson's musical theater potential, that got brought up back in December when Sara Bareilles appeared on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" to talk "Waitress: The Musical."
"There is something kind of bittersweet about it,"Bareilles said of the film, which marks the end of her run on Broadway as the character Jenna Hunterson. "I think there's a very real knowing that this will be the last time I'm on stage in that role, which doesn't mean you can't go on stage in that role."
Clarkson reacted positively to Bareilles' suggestion, saying "I do want to do it." As did the studio audience.
Per Playbill, when "Waitress" opened on April 24, 2016, it made history as the first Broadway musical with women in the composer-lyricist (Bareilles), writer (book author Jessie Nelson), director (Diane Paulus) and choreographer (Lorin Latarro) roles.
Others to play the Hunterson role onstage include Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Nicolette Robinson and Jennifer Nettles.
