Kelly Clarkson nearly moved Garth Brooks to tears with her performance at the Kennedy Center Honors.
This Sunday (June 6), Clarkson makes a musical appearance during the Kennedy Center’s televised broadcast of its annual celebration, which recognizes figures in the performing arts. Among the honorees is the country superstar, who the American Idol alum honored with a touching tribute rendition of Brooks’ song “The Dance.”
“I could have missed the pain / But I'd have had to miss the dance,” Clarkson sings in a preview of tonight’s presentation as Brooks, watching from the audience, holds back his tears. “Holding you, I held everything / For a moment wasn't I the king / If I'd only known how the king would fall.”
“It was an honor to sing ‘The Dance’ for @GarthBrooks at this year's Kennedy Center Honors,” Clarkson wrote on Instagram. “This song will forever hold a special place in my heart ❤️”
The “Behind These Hazel Eyes” superstar, who is currently in the process of her divorcing her estranged husband Brandon Blackstock, named Brooks’ 1990 ballad as one of the songs that brought her joy amid that heartbreak.
"There's so much shame and guilt. I couldn't quite nail down the feeling,” she told the country icon, who is also a divorcee, during his appearance on her talk show. “Like you don't want to crap on it, like, you don't want to say that [relationship] doesn't count or matter, but you don't know what to put in it because it didn't work out like you wanted.”
She added, “So, anyway, I kid you not, I was listening to my playlist and 'The Dance' came on. And I was like, 'No, that's the thing. That's it.’”
At the 43rd Annual Kennedy Centers Honors, which were held in May, Brooks posed for pictures alongside wife Trisha Yearwood to celebrate his big night. (See those photos here.)
Photo: Getty Images