Kelly Clarkson is no stranger to receiving high praise from fans and celebrity admirers alike over her career for her jaw-dropping performances on award shows, talk shows, and beyond.
Still, she recently found herself humbled by compliments from her former ‘The Voice‘ co-judge and fellow GRAMMY-winning vocalist Ariana Grande.
Look inside to see how she responded to the adulation.
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Hot on the promo trail for her forthcoming Vegas residency and sizzling new single ‘Where Have You Been,’ Kelly took a break from her own daytime talk series to visit ‘Today with Jenna & Friends’ on Tuesday (May 6).
When not chatting about new music and other ventures coming down the pipeline, the GRAMMY and EMMY winner was quizzed on her feelings about Ariana crowning her the “best singer in the world” on an episode of the ‘Las Culturistas‘ podcast.
“I love her,” Grande said at the time, branding Clarkson “unbelievable” and “f-cking incredible.” “She is the best [singer] in the world.”
When Jenna and guest co-host Matt Rogers (who also hosts ‘Culturistas’) played Kelly the clip, she returned the love.
“That’s hilarious coming from her since she’s like the greatest singer,” Clarkson relayed before praising Grande’s performance in ‘Wicked.’ “That’s humbling that she’s even a fan of what I do. She’s really good.”
That’s not all she said. Click PLAY on the clip above to see the full interview.
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I disagree. I can’t deny Ari has the wide range but her voice is not powerful like Kelly, Celine, Whitney, Mariah or XTINA. Ari has a voice that thin like paper
Voices dont have to be powerful to be great. Mariahs voice isnt particularly powerful. Its resonant. That combined with her proficiency at belting can give the impression of power. But her voice isnt much more powerful than Arianas.
The first logical thing you’ve said. Ariana can’t even whistle. She has more of a falsetto. Always irritated me with the Mariah comparisons.
The vocal bar is so low.
Ariana can carry a note, but her voice is not timeless or cultivated in the church and even if it was, she doesn’t have the cultural context to “sing our blues”.
I love Ari’s voice!
Ariana has proven her voice is up there with some of the greatest. Sure, she’s not one of the best. But her mic is on. I’m always interested to see how she’ll shape-shift next….who knows how she’ll look 2026 / 27 / 28 … she’s ageing sideways. Her voice hasn’t peaked. If anything, Wicked challenged her massively
Kelly’s definitely one of the best singers of this generation. Better than the likes of Xtina and Adele who are both highly overrated on an objective, technical level.
The most gifted singers of my generation in no particular order are Keke Wyatt, Beyoncé, Jazmine Sullivan, Sohyang, Kelly Clarkson, Avery Wilson, Mario, Usher and Le’andria Johnson.