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Kelly Clarkson remembers Aretha Franklin tonight on ABC: “She really did stir something inside me”

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ABC NewsIf it wasn’t for Aretha Franklin, Kelly Clarkson would probably never have auditioned for American Idol, let alone become a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning pop star.

On tonight’s ABC special 2018: In Memoriam, Kelly is among several stars who pay tribute to the late Queen of Soul, who died in August of pancreatic cancer.  In an advance clip, Kelly explains the huge impact Aretha had on her.

“It’s hard to believe, but I was actually shy when I was little — very hard to believe, I realize!” Kelly laughs. “I had such a hard time communicating, which is actually why I started to write [songs] before I even could sing. And it was just to get my emotions out, ’cause I was afraid to let down walls because so many crappy things had happened.”

But then Kelly discovered Aretha’s music.

“Aretha was the one singer that kinda just reached right down in me, and then it was like, ‘It’s O.K. to cry, it’s O.K. to be mad at something,'” Kelly explains. “I feel like she’s the reason why I’m not so shy.  Music really did give me that confidence and she really did stir something inside me that really broke down those barriers that I had built up as a child.”

Kelly says her favorite Aretha song changes, but she reveals, “I will say the one I love to sing the most is ‘I Never Loved a Man.’  It’s really just a killer classic, and every vocalist loves songs you can, like, wail on!”

In addition to Kelly, tonight’s show will feature Aretha tributes from Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelleBurt Reynolds, Barbara Bush, Senator John McCain and Stephen Hawking will also be remembered on 2018: In Memoriam, airing tonight at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.

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