In March 2022, Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock finalized their divorce. People Magazine reported that Clarkson agreed to a one-time payment of $1.3 million and monthly child support of $45,601 for their two children. Despite the divorce, the former couple opted for joint custody, with the children residing with Clarkson in her Los Angeles home.
Performing “The Dance” in front of Garth Brooks at the Kennedy Center Honors held significant emotional weight for Clarkson, leading to pre-performance nervousness. She shared with Entertainment Today in June 2021, “I was texting Trisha Yearwood before the show, and then I go on stage and I saw them, and all of a sudden I am the sweatiest human on planet earth. And I got a little nervous, and I don’t get nervous singing. Yep, I didn’t enjoy that!”
For Clarkson, “The Dance” held deep personal significance beyond being a classic country hit. It played a crucial role in her coping with the divorce. In an interview on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” she disclosed, “I couldn’t quite nail down the feeling. I was, like, well, you don’t want to crap on it. Like, you don’t want to say that didn’t count or matter, but you don’t know what to put in it because it didn’t work out how you wanted, and so, anyway, I kid you not, I was listening to my playlist and ‘The Dance’ came on, and I was like, ‘No, that’s the thing. That’s it.'”
In a conversation with Brooks, Clarkson revealed that singing “The Dance” as a child never had the same impact until her divorce, emphasizing the song’s newfound resonance in her life