Kelly Clarkson got into her rock bag on Monday’s (April 8) episode of the Kelly Clarkson Show, taking the stage for her daily Kellyoke segment in a black leather skirt and vintage Billy Joel concert tee for a rousing run through Miley Cyrus‘ 2020 hit “Midnight Sun.”
The smoldering lead single from Miley’s seventh studio album, Plastic Hearts, is an homage to Stevie Nicks’ 1981 solo hit “Edge of Seventeen,” and in Clarkson’s hands it lost none of the original’s slow-burn energy. “Yeah, it’s been a long night and the mirror’s tellin’ me to go home/ But it’s been a long time since I felt this good on my own/ Lotta years went by with my hands tied up in your ropes/ Forever and ever, no more,” Clarkson sang before busting into the self-assured chorus.
“I was born to run, I don’t belong to anyone, oh no/ I don’t need to be loved by you,” she belted as her backup singers provided soulful support. “Fire in my lungs, can’t bite the devil on my tongue, oh no/ I don’t need to be loved by you.”
Miley’s song topped the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart back in Dec. 2000 and Monday’s cover was the third time Clarkson has dipped into the Cyrus oeuvre during the current season of her daytime talker, following on the heels of her takes on “Jaded” and “Used to Be Young“; back in 2000 she also took on Miley’s OG hit “The Climb.” On Tuesday’s (April 9) show, Clarkson got meta and did a Kellyoke cover of her own song, “Me,” from her 2023 Chemistry album.
Watch Clarkson cover “Midnight Sun” below.
