Kelly Clarkson: The Comeback Kid

Kelly Clarkson was once considered the girl to beat when it came to American Idol alumni. The winner of the series' first incarnation shattered expectations with her debut album, Thankful, and the multiplatinum sophomore follow-up, Breakaway. But in June of 2007, admist a swirl of negative press surrounding her third studio effort, it looked like America had given up on its first champion.

Last spring Clarkson and co. released "Never Again", the anticipated first single from her new album My December, for radio and video airplay. The song displayed the much gossiped about "new sound" Clarkson had been working on, a mix of pop hooks and rock beats, with a slightly edgier style than what her core audience was used to hearing. Accompanied with press for the upcoming album came rumors that Clarkson and record producer Clive Davis didn't exactly see eye to eye on the thematic material...Kelly was going for a mature, emotional album with tracks penned by Clarkson herself, while Davis allegedley begged her to record more radio friendly tracks (including a cover of "Black Hole", originally recorded by Lindsay Lohan back in 2005). Though neither confirmed or denied the heated behind the scenes escapades, later events spoke for themselves.

Late that June, My December hit record store shelves, and debuted on the Billboard Charts at no. 2 with just under 300,000 copies (slightly higher than Breakaway). Despite being certified platinum by December, critical praise and spawning four singles (the highest spot reached on the charts by any was no. 8, with only two having accompanying music videos), industry insiders were already asking themselves if the momentum on Clarkson's fifteen-minute train were finally up. That summer she also parted ways with her management, The Firm, and cancelled a huge American arena tour. In the fall, she rescheduled dates for much smaller, intimate venues. She signed with Starstruck Entertainment and partnered with her idol, Reba McEntire, for a new tour.

As early as January of this year, rumors hit the weeklies and gossip pages that Clarkson was hard at work on her fourth studio album. Though the label declined to comment much at the time, Clarkson said she'd be happy if she could put out new music every year. As with much of her previous material, Kelly gave fans a preview of one track, "Close Your Eyes", on the My December Tour.

In April, four demos of new material were leaked online. If you scour YouTube hard enough, you can probably still find them. The songs ("Close Your Eyes", "One Day", "Ready" and "With a Little Bit of Luck") have been confirmed by both Clarkson and her co-writer Aben Eubanks as stolen, unfinished tracks. Around the same time, E!Online's coverage of the leak stated the title of her new album would be True You. Neither Clarkson's representatives nor the label have confirmed this.

This week, in an announcement to her official fan club, Kelly confirmed she is in the studio finishing up work on her album, which she hopes will be available in the fall. She also confirmed that she's been working with One Republic's Ryan Tedder on several tracks. Tedder is the lead singer/songwriter of his own group, as well as the man behind hits like Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and Natasha Bedingfield's "Love Like This". He's also currently working on projects for Clarkson's fellow idol alumni David Cook and Jennifer Hudson.

Before Carrie Underwood took country music by storm and Jordin Sparks achieved massive radio airplay, Kelly Clarkson seemed like the shining beacon of Idol winners. Maybe after the emotional purge of My December, audiences will be ready to embrace a mature Idol this fall.