I’m not gonna lie. I absolutely adore Kelly Clarkson and believe that anything her voice touches will turn to gold.
It’s why her talk show can have an entire segment that is literally just her performing popular songs from different genres.
And one of her most recent performances is of Cody Johnson’s emotional and stellar “‘Til You Can’t.”
With Johnson’s recent performance of the song at the 2022 CMA Awards, that song has just been in the forefront of my mind. It’s just a pure country ballad with real instruments, a powerful delivery, and just enough emotions to make you cry depending on the day.
Of course, then when I saw that Kelly freakin’ Clarkson did a cover of it, I grabbed tissues, curled up in bed, and prepared myself for something Grammy-worthy. And I was certainly not disappointed.
People always talk about that “it” factor that performers need to have in order to truly make it in whatever business they are in. Many people don’t have it, so they end up relying on outrageous performances and big special effects to hide the fact that they aren’t what draws people in.
Though when somebody does have “it,” they can just stand there and sing. And that alone is mesmerizing enough.
Cody Johnson certainly has “it.” His CMA performance has him just standing there with his guitar, and it’s damn near impossible to take your eyes off the guy.
Kelly Clarkson has that same “it” factor. She just stands there, effortlessly belting out lyrics about not wasting time or moments like it’s as easy as making a bowl of cereal.
There’s an authenticity to that type of performance, to being yourself, which is why what most would consider real country is full of artists who don’t need to do anything outrageous.
Other than just having an incredible voice, that’s also why Clarkson’s Kellyoke performances are such a success. She’s just being authentic.
All of that to say that you absolutely need to check out her performance of this Cody Johnson song and that we need a Kelly Clarkson country album yesterday.
