Kelly Clarkson Kicks Off ‘Piece By Piece’ Tour With Tori Kelly Cover + More
Good Kelly Clarkson fans will have memorized the better part of the artist's latest album before taking a seat at her live show. Better Kelly Clarkson fans know there's no use preparing—few souls know what she's got up her sleeve.
The Grammy winner's eighth headlining tour—the Piece by Piece tour—kicked off on Saturday, July 11 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the woman with pipes of steel wasted no time reminding audiences that she's a comedian, too.
"I am getting hit with bugs," the singer lamented before a cover of Tori Kelly's "Nobody Love," the latest installment of Clarkson's popular fan-request series. "I've swallowed one, which was awesome; nice little bit of protein."
Still, jokes couldn't eclipse the mountain-moving power of Clarkson's voice, and between the smokey Kelly remake and performances of new single "Invincible," "Nostalgic," which is begging for summertime radio play and a chilling rendition of her "Tightrope"-walk, Clarkson gave her fans equal parts party and poetry reading. Plus, at least in one case, she made sure guests were treated like royalty.
For the first time, as part of her new nightly "Open Mic" series, the singer welcomed a fan to the stage, and in Sunday night's case, it was a spoken-word poetry artist named Miranda Tellis who assumed the headlining spot. Tellis had written Clarkson a letter assuring her "Society's Box" was arena-worthy, and Clarkson, for one, was quickly fashioned into a believer.
"I have to sing, still, Miranda, and you've now made me emotional," Clarkson joked.
And though the original American Idol winner's shiny, new hits proved to be crowd-pleasers, she reminded audiences her attic's dusted-over relics have still got lasting power, and the pairing of her 2006 "Walk Away" against Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" would have, indeed, made a dragon wanna retire, man.
Finally, in an event Kelly, herself, couldn't have written, Miss Independent took a stumble during a rendition of "Stronger," proceeded to get up and perform more powerfully than ever. Chin up, Kel—you're in good company.
Check out some of the early Piece by Piece tour number and tell us if you'll be seeing Kelly live later on this summer!
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