24 years ago today, Kelly Clarkson released “A Moment Like This,” the No. 1 smash that transformed the first ‘American Idol’ winner into a major pop star. CLEVELAND, OHIO – OCTOBER 19: Kelly Clarkson attends the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony streaming on Disney+ at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 19, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
24 years ago today (September 17), Kelly Clarkson released a song that transformed her from the winner of a brand new television competition into one of the biggest pop stars in the world. “A Moment Like This” quickly became a No. 1 in the United States, and its success proved that the first season of American Idol had done more than produce entertaining TV – it had introduced a singer that millions of viewers were willing to follow off of the small screen.
Now, almost a quarter-century later, television is once again central to Clarkson’s career. Her Emmy-winning The Kelly Clarkson Show ended only weeks ago, and in a few days on September 21, she will return to The Voice for another season as a coach.
Clarkson was once the unknown talent hoping that a reality show could change her life. Today, she sits on the other side, trying to find singers who might be able to make the same leap – but will anyone match what she’s accomplished?
“A Moment Like This” Made American Idol Work
Clarkson won the inaugural season of American Idol on September 4, 2002, defeating Justin Guarini with 58% of the nationwide vote. After being declared the champion, she closed the finale with an emotional performance of “A Moment Like This,” which may be the best final tune in reality TV history.
The song, paired with fellow coronation tune “Before Your Love,” was released commercially on September 17, a little less than two weeks after her victory. The turnaround may sound lengthy in today’s all-digital streaming era, but at the time, physical CD singles were still an important part of the music business, and the release had been announced before Clarkson even left the stage.
Kelly Clarkson Enjoyed a Historic Leap Up the Billboard Hot 100
“A Moment Like This” vaulted from No. 52 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which at the time was the largest jump to the pinnacle in the chart’s history. Clarkson broke a record that had stood since 1964, when the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” flew from No. 27 to first place.
The success of “A Moment Like This” was critically important, and not only to Clarkson. American Idol was adapted from Britain’s Pop Idol, and Clarkson proved that the format could work spectacularly well in the U.S. It’s one thing for people to tune in and vote for her – it’s another thing entirely for them to spend their money on what she releases next.
Kelly Clarkson Quickly Moved Beyond American Idol
“A Moment Like This” and “Before Your Love” later appeared on Clarkson’s debut album Thankful, which arrived in April 2003 and launched at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. “Miss Independent,” her first major hit that was not tied directly to American Idol, reached the Hot 100’s top 10, and Clarkson quickly avoided becoming a one-hit wonder – something that has plagued reality singing shows ever since her reign.
Then came Breakaway, which cemented Clarkson into a megastar. Singles like “Since U Been Gone,” “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Because of You” and “Walk Away” helped remove any lingering reality-show qualifier from her career and proved that there was life after American Idol.
Years later, Clarkson even managed to outdo the chart history made by her debut smash. Her power-pop hit “My Life Would Suck Without You” jumped from No. 97 to No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2009, resetting the same record that “A Moment Like This” held for a time.
Television Became Kelly Clarkson’s Second Career
By the time The Kelly Clarkson Show premiered in 2019, Clarkson had already spent well over a decade as a proven recording star. The daytime series quickly grew into much more than something she hosted between albums, and indeed was her focus for more than half a decade.
Clarkson and the program accumulated eight Daytime Emmy wins through the 2024 ceremony, and she won the host category four consecutive times from 2020 through 2023. Music remained part of the franchise through her popular “Kellyoke” performances, but the relationship had changed. Television once existed to launch Clarkson’s music career, but then her fame and voice were largely responsible for powering a TV institution.
That chapter ended only last month, when The Kelly Clarkson Show aired its final episode after seven seasons. Appropriately, the finale leaned heavily on music, as Clarkson revisited songs from her own extensive and beloved catalog.
Her recording career continues, though it looks very different from the one “A Moment Like This” inaugurated. Clarkson has dropped several standalone singles during the past two years, and while some have become minor sales hits, none of them have reached the Billboard Hot 100.
Kelly Clarkson Returns to The Voice
Four days after the anniversary of “A Moment Like This,” Clarkson begins her eleventh coaching season on The Voice. She’ll join Adam Levine, Queen Latifah and Riley Green for season 30.
THE VOICE — “The Battles Part 2” Episode 2905 — Pictured: Kelly Clarkson — (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images)
Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images
Clarkson has already coached multiple winners on The Voice, so she knows the competition from both sides. 24 years ago, she was the singer hoping television could provide an entrance into the music industry. Now, contestants will stand in front of her dreaming of doing exactly what she did.
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