Kelly Clarkson has revealed that Taylor Swift has sent her flowers after every re-recorded album release and the reason for the sweet gesture.
In a recent interview, The Kelly Clarkson Show host, 41, told E! News that Swift, 33, thanks her by sending her a floral arrangement — among other items — whenever she releases the “Taylor’s Version” of one of her original albums.
“She just sent me flowers,” Clarkson said. “She’s so nice. She did. She was like, ‘Every time I release something’—’cause she just did 1989. I got that really cute cardigan, too.”
The reason for the gift dates back to 2019 when Swift was open about her disappointment after Scooter Braun and his company purchased her former label, Big Machine, for a reported $300 million. The purchase gave Braun and his associates a majority ownership of Swift’s masters for her first six albums.
At the time, Clarkson — who must not have had the “Wildest Dreams” singer’s phone number yet — tweeted at Swift with a unique recommendation that would later go down in pop culture history.
“@taylorswift13 just a thought, U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions. I’d buy all of the new versions just to prove a point,” Clarkson suggested in July 2019 tweet.
Just weeks after Clarkson sent the tweet to the music icon, Swift announced on CBS Sunday Morning her plans to re-record her first six albums so that she could own the masters to her own work while attaching the “Taylor’s Version” label to each new recording.
To date, the Midnights artist has re-recorded and released four of her six original albums, leaving just Reputation and Taylor Swift still in the vault.
While many have credited Clarkson over the years for giving Swift the idea on how she could quickly end up with ownership of her music, the “Since You’ve Been Gone” singer says she thinks Swift would have eventually figured it out for herself.
“She’s a very smart businesswoman, so, she would have thought of that,” Clarkson told E! News. “But it just sucks when you see artists that you admire and you respect really wanting something and it’s special to them. You know if they’re going to find a loophole, you find a loophole. And she did it and literally is, like, the best-selling artist I feel like of all-time now.”
Clarkson added that while it has been one thing to watch her fellow singer and songwriter take ownership of her work, it’s been another thing entirely to see how her fans have embraced each album.
“It’s so cool to see a fanbase really get behind her in that too because it’s important,” she added. “She’s known for being such an incredible songwriter and the soundtrack to a lot of people’s lives and that’s her life. So, you should have the option of owning that.”
Just last week, ET reported that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has given the singer her best first week for an album ever, selling a whopping 1.653 million equivalent album units. Her previous best was 1.578 million for Midnights and the original version of 1989 sold a mere 1.297 million units in its first week when it released nearly a decade ago.
Clarkson says watching “Taylor’s Version” become a worldwide phenomenon may also inspire her to take her own advice as she told People she would like to re-record some of her own songs.
“I don’t really want to re-record to own it. Some things I do want to kind of re-record because I think I’m better with age, vocally,” she said. “It’s just, young Kelly is so fresh, right? And it’s not good. It’s green.”
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