Sophia Michaels
The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s Black History Month spotlight during the host’s popular Kellyoke segment continues with a cover of Joy Oladokun’s “Breathe Again.” Clarkson performed a piano-based rendition of the somber record alongside her musical director Jason Halbert.
“She is certainly an emerging artist you’ll want to keep your eye on,” Clarkson told the audience following her performance. “She was part of YouTube’s Black Voices class of 2021 and Black History Month concert. I’m super honored to be covering a song of hers to celebrate Black History Month here on the show. She is a big supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, which you can hear much in her music, which is what I love.”
“I’m a Nigerian-American kid growing up in a farming town,” Oladokun told Rolling Stone in 2021. “Every time I’ve seen a guitar, it has been in the hands of a white person. [When] I got to see Tracy and her guitar in a stadium of people — just listening to her thoughts, her feelings, how she saw the world — it changed my life, very literally.”
She added: “This is the life I want, and this is the life I know I can build, and I’m going to need a combination of my own internal determination and luck or blessings or whatever you want to call it to get it done. I found love, I found hope, and I’m moving forward in that direction.”
Clarkson kicked off the spotlight at the top of the month with a resurfaced cover of Destiny Child’s classic single “Survivor.”
