Behind her hazel eyes is an identity Kelly Clarkson wants to bring to the forefront.
Multiple outlets report they obtained court documents filed by the 39-year-old singer and talk show host on Valentine’s Day to legally change her name to Kelly Brianne. Brianne is Clarkson’s middle name, which she apparently wants to give an upgrade to last name status.
Documents obtained by Us Weekly claim that the Texas native has “a desire” to go by her first and middle names because “my new name more fully reflects who I am.” A hearing regarding the petition is set for March 28.
HuffPost has reached out to Clarkson for confirmation.
The move comes in the wake of the singer’s turbulent divorce from Brandon Blackstock, whom she split from in June 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage.
Although her legal last name was Blackstock during her marriage, she successfully changed her name back to Kelly Clarkson, per the Los Angeles Times.
It is unclear why Clarkson is seeking to change her last name again, but she has been open about her difficult relationship with her father, Stephen Clarkson. Her powerful 2015 ballad “Piece by Piece” was inspired by her father, who was absent for most of her childhood. In 2016, while opening up to Ryan Seacrest about the song, Clarkson gushed about her then-husband’s relationship with their now 7-year-old daughter, River.
“Watching my husband love on his daughter all the time, you know, go to her events and just be there and be present is hard to watch but beautiful to watch,” Clarkson said. “I know that my kids are going to have that.”
Despite Clarkson wanting to change her last name to Brianne, it is also unclear if her talk show “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and her Wayfair brand “Kelly Clarkson Home” will be altered. The singer has used the professional name Kelly Clarkson since she was a contestant on (and eventually the winner of) the first season of “American Idol” in 2002.