Kelly Clarkson Cries After ‘The Voice’ Competitor Sings Her Song: “Smacking Me in the Face With My Message”

Kelly Clarkson made a memorable return to The Voice on Monday night. Clarkson, who had been out for a few episodes due to illness, was back in the judge’s chair and ready to make some tough decisions during last night’s Knockouts, which pitted competitors Corey Ward and Ryleigh Modig against each other.

While Modig opted for Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody,” Ward chose a song Clarkson knew all too well: her very own 2009 single “Already Gone.” During a rehearsal with Clarkson and Mega-Mentor Snoop Dogg, Ward explained that he chose the ballad because of his emotional connection to it. “To have Kelly believe in me with this song, you can’t ask for anything better,” he added.

Clarkson was so moved by Ward’s take on her song that she teared up during his first performance, USA Today reports. “When I wrote ‘Already Gone’ I was going through something that I thought, it’s OK. It doesn’t have to work out,” she explained. “And hearing him sing that to me in my life now… Are you like smacking me in the face with my message?”

She added, “It’s interesting when you write something and you don’t feel it until years later.” Clarkson is currently going through a divorce from husband Brandon Blackstock, with whom she shares two children. The two were married for seven years before announcing their split in 2020.

Snoop felt the emotion from Ward’s performance, too, telling the singer, “Yes, Lord, I’m holding this tear back!” and adding, “When you can get the songwriter to lose emotional control, that’s when you doin’ your job.”

Later in the episode, when it was time for Ward to sing “Already Gone” on the stage, Clarkson admitted that hearing her own song is “the coolest thing a songwriter can experience.” She admitted, “He just killed my song in front of me,” joking, “that’s maybe how that as supposed to sound.”

New episodes of The Voice air Mondays at 8/7c on NBC. Watch Ward’s performance in the video above.