- Have you ever been to Cleveland?
- I went to school very, very close to Cleveland.
And a good buddy of mine,
was the biggest Cleveland guy I've ever known.
Rory O'Malley, we went to college together, we went to
- Like a big sports guy?
Like.
- A big sports guy, big just, big for his city.
You know what I'm saying?
Like just a big. - I love it.
- Big rep for his city and we went to college together.
And he, we actually ended up,
we did Hamilton together on Broadway,
he's gonna be the king here,
In L.A. - Wow, wow.
- [Leslie] So if you see Hamilton,
a legacy growing. - Yes.
(audience cheering)
- My God.
- Do people, do they, I know you do like many other things,
but do people still freak out?
Like my thing, is like everybody comes up and yells,
(yells)
"Kelly Clarkson."
Do people?
This is your Hamilton. (laughs)
So it's like, do people always come up to you
and are just like talking you non-stop about Hamilton
'cause it was such a movement.
I feel like when I was a kid and Rent came out.
- Yeah.
- How popular that was, and how it blew up.
That's what Hamilton is for this generation,
its just like enormous.
- It was that, and it, no it was weird, you know?
Daveed used to say this thing, this.
I love that Daveed used to say, "Right outside
"the stage door you were a Beatle for a block."
You know what I mean like?
(laughing)
Once you've crossed 8th avenue it kinda died down
but it took time to get used to getting recognized
at the airport,
and stuff like that. - Yeah.
- I was, I'll be looking behind me,
like who are they looking at?
- Yeah.
- But it was you know a huge phenomenon,
changed our lives.
- [Kelly] Yeah the trajectory of your, yeah.
- [Leslie] Yeah.
- But it also gave just really talented people
a chance an opportunity to really showcase
all that you are capable of.
Like how he wrote those songs,
I mean, my husband is a full on cowboy.
Like, raises cattle, road bulls, like that kinda guy.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Tears, when we went to New York
and he was like, he was looking around going,
nobody's looking at me right?
Like, he was like crying.
Like it was, it was so good,
just such a great moment in time.
But I'm so glad that you have the music now,
that you're doing, now. - Yes.
- I love that you're transitioning.
- So you've done the biggest (audience applauds)
show on Broadway, literally.
But what was you're first theater role?
Do you remember?
- My very first theater role was in kindergarten,
I played Martin Luther King,
in our black history. - What a role.
- Yes that's right, I started at the top.
(audience claps)
(laughs)
- It's all downhill from there.
- I know, I played Martin Luther King in our black history,
you know, ceremony.
And I took it very, very seriously.
The teacher, Ms. Louis, you know
she was really kind to the kids, it was like
she wanted you to memorize it,
but if you didn't it was okay.
She would like sit next to you and mouth the words
right before you had to say them.
- 'Cause you were like five, right?
- That's right. - Yeah.
But I knew all my lines, all five of my lines.
- Yes. (audience cheers)
(audience claps)
I have, I retain nothing.
- Yes.
- This is, just one of the many reasons
I should never be an actor, but yes.
But I can't retain.
Like how y'all memorize all those lines?
'Cause I did musical theater growing up,
and would almost like, I mean sweaty pits,
my stomach would hurt, like I would,
(audience laughs)
Just memorizing that.
- I retain pretty well, I still might remember some of it,
I mean, I think it
was something like, you know. - Wow.
- Martin Luther King had a dream, something like that
was pretty much. (laughs)
- I think everyone remembers that part.
- That's right, yeah that's right.
- That's amazing, I love you.
Okay, was it always theater for you though?
Or did you, were you really into TV as well?
- Oh I was a latchkey kid,
so we watched, - Oh, me too.
- I watched, you know?
- Everything.
- Far too much TV.
- Me too, but look at us now.
- I know, you know what I'm saying?
- They say TV is horrible for you.
(audience applauds)
But I think it worked, we're successful.
We didn't end up hoodlums, it's fine.
- Yeah, I used to watch.
Like it's, it was so bad or good, however you looked at it.
Like I, TV sitcoms and stuff
are still a huge comfort to me, like.
- [Kelly] Me too.
- You see like, when I go to sleep and stuff,
I can like. - Nostalgic?
- Yeah, I can just put on like an episode of Cheers,
and like, the theme song. - Yes.
- Like puts me through like this.
- [Kelly] I know all the theme songs.
- [Leslie] Do you really?
- Don't you remember like?
I mean, I feel like there was time,
when like every show was like, the theme song was huge,
For the. - Had a great theme song.
- Yes.
♪ Making your way in the world today ♪
♪ Takes everything you got ♪
- Yes, I didn't know all the words, see I retain nothing.
♪ Taking a break from all your worries ♪
- But I know Norm,
and I know the whole cast.
(laughs)
You know my favorite was? - What's that?
- Wait, what was the one where
they had the guy, Urkel?
They had, what was it, Family Matters?
But what was that song? - Yeah.
- And then that one lady that went like,
(sings)
(laughs)
Like in that, in the song
that was my favorite one,
'cause she was just like wailing,
and I was like I wanna be her.
But 'Mr', your albums called 'Mr'.
- [Leslie] Yes. - Why did you call it 'Mr'?
- That tiny little bit of mystery, you know what I'm saying?
Like, it has a lot of meaning to me, but you know.
You can understand this too.
It's like I'm super interested
in people listening to the record
and telling me why they think it's called 'Mr'.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- It has tones of personal meaning to me, but I feel like
the minute I say why I called it that.
- It loses the mystery,
Oh that's kinda cool. - Exactly.
- I'm not as cool as you, I'm always like,
ah I named it
(mumbles)
I need to be cooler, I'm gonna work on my mystery.
(laughs)
I have no filter, I don't know if you've known this.
(laughs)
So your wife, daughter and your grandma
were all on this record, right?
- [Audience] Aw
This is like. - Yeah.
- I mean look at, what?
That's beautiful. - Well it's,
you know it's a deeply,
you know its a personal record, it's like a lot of the songs
started as journal entries, you know.
And so I wanted to, you know, sew my family into the,
not literally,
but sew them into the. - Yeah.
- Fabric of the theme.
- Very Hannibal Lector, it's fine.
- I know yeah, that'd be weird.
It rubs the lotion on your skin.
- Yeah rub it up - But it's
- With the lotion in the basket.
- But so yeah we, my daughter,
there's a little Easter egg when my daughter,
introduces one of the tracks.
My wife sings back up, I begged her to sing backup.
She's my favoring singer. (audience awes)
So my wife sings back up all over this, all over the album
you can hear her.
But, yeah my grandmother knew this poem,
from the time when she was in the 4th grade.
It's a poem called, The Psalm of Life.
And I used to ask her to recite.
She knew it from memory
and I would ask her to recite it for my whole life,
you know.
And the meaning sort of changed overtime,
like at first it was just like a gag,
like I wonder if grandma still remembers it.
And then, as I got older, you know I started to understand
the meaning of it, and stuff so,
I had no idea that it would be the last time,
but that was on the record is a recording,
of the last time my grandmother ever said that,
that poem to me. - You recorded.
- [Leslie] Yeah.
- You were so smart to do that.
- Yeah
- It's so cool, that is the coolest thing.
And I think, you know, we were talking about
you transitioning into like,
more the pop world, or whatever.
And it's like that's the thing that fans love,
the vulnerability, I think
and the fact that you're welcoming them into your family,
your story, and it's all right there
and they get to be a part of it.
Not just you singing - Yeah.
- But like welcoming them to the whole story and opening up.
- Yeah you, I mean you went through the same thing, right?
I mean like, when people were first giving you songs to sing
and telling you what to sing - Yeah.
- And then you, you know, found your voice as a writer.
- Yeah.
- On your own, that's crazy.
- I was lucky, I fought very hard for my first single,
so I got to write on that one, but it was lucky.
(audience applauds)
You cry.
(laughs)
It was, we had a really good relationship with my label.
But it was, I did have to fight,
but I also know artist, like I'm a writer
and I love writing what's in my heart and head.
But I also think, like what a missed opportunity,
for people that maybe don't wanna write
and do put records out,
or sing and put records out.
But there these amazing nugget of songs,
that I've been blessed to be able to record.
Like, that's kinda cool to, so I like doing both.
It's fun.
- Yeah like the greatest compliment to me,
a friend of mine who I've known a long time,
listened to the record
and the message that he sent to me,
was I feel like I got to know you better
on this record. - That's what I'm saying.
- Somebody that has known me for a very long time.
- [Kelly] Yeah. - Yeah.
- But it's a different thing,
music opens up a different side of you,
and its just way more vulnerable, and it's cool,
and I wish you nothing but success.
- Thank you so much Kelly.
Thank you. - He's so talented,
so cool, so funny.
I love that you knew the lotion in the basket reference.
(laughs)