Kelly Clarkson begs to differ with Clive Davis - vehemently
Kelly Clarkson has gone off on Clive Davis in a way he almost predicted in his memoir, “The Soundtrack of My Life.”
“It’s clear that Kelly Clarkson has a decidedly independent streak, to say the least, and often speaks in public before she realizes the implications of what she’s saying,” he wrote in a chapter of the book that deals largely with their professional relationship.
It’s a chapter full of Clarkson not liking what Davis suggests, with Davis winding up always in the right.
Now, 80-year-old producer Davis may be all that and a slice of toast in the music world, but Clarkson isn’t about to be bullied by anyone, the 30-year-old declared Tuesday.
BOOK: Clive Davis talks bisexuality, Dylan, Whitney and more
“So I just heard Clive Davis is releasing a memoir and spreading false information about me and my music,” the pop singer wrote on her WhoSay page. “I refuse to be bullied and I just have to clear up his memory lapses and misinformation for myself and for my fans. It feels like a violation. Growing up is awesome because you learn you don’t have to cower to anyone — even Clive Davis.”
Yes, she said, she did cry in his office once, but it was because she called him a lousy writer who “should just shut up and sing,” not because he was insisting the song “Since U Been Gone” go on her album “Breakaway.”
And yes, “My December” was a platinum success, she said, not the failure he described because she “co-penned the album and it didn’t have ‘pop hits.’” And also, she noted, she has “co-penned” many of her pop hits.
That actually conflicts with what Davis wrote about the supposedly lousy song “Because of You.”
“I loved the song and the record from the first listen,” he wrote, “and felt that it delivered on the promise that Kelly could indeed write hits.”
But in the book he did criticize her songwriting on tunes for the next album, “My December,” and made a big deal of the fact that it was only single platinum, as opposed to the six-times-platinum success of the album that came before.
For that reality, however, she blamed him.
“What’s most interesting about his story is what he leaves out: He doesn’t mention how he stood up in front of his company at a convention and belittled me and my music and completely sabotaged the entire [“My December”] project. It never had a chance to reach its full potential.”
Interestingly enough, Davis remembers their battles over “My December” being eaten up in the rock press and positioned as “a David-and-Goliath battle between an all-powerful music mogul and a solitary young woman fighting bravely for the right to self-expression.”
Sound familiar?
Incidentally, Clive didn’t like “From Justin to Kelly” much either.
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