Kelly Clarkson delivers a stunning Whitney Houston cover for the 1,000th episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show
Kelly Clarkson chose a song that few singers would dare to tackle when The Kelly Clarkson Show reached its extraordinary 1,000th episode.
For the milestone celebration, which aired on March 20, 2025, Clarkson turned to Whitney Houston’s demanding classic, “I Have Nothing,” delivering a stripped-back performance that put her voice firmly at the center of the moment. The song originally appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
The performance was part of the show’s much-loved “Kellyoke” segment, the feature that has given Clarkson countless opportunities to step away from the talk-show format and return to the role that first made her a household name: singer.
Kelly Clarkson takes on one of Whitney Houston’s biggest songs
There was little need for an elaborate production.
With piano and acoustic guitar providing the accompaniment, Clarkson allowed the arrangement to remain relatively sparse. That simplicity made every vocal detail more noticeable, from the controlled opening lines to the increasingly powerful delivery as the song progressed.
“I Have Nothing” is an especially formidable choice, given the vocal demands of Houston’s original. Clarkson meets those demands with a performance built around control, emotion and power rather than trying to overwhelm the song from the first note.
Her vibrato becomes increasingly expressive as the performance develops, while the key changes give her room to push the vocals higher. The result feels respectful of Houston’s recording while still carrying Clarkson’s own vocal character.
The cover itself runs for only around two minutes, yet it quickly attracted considerable attention. The original article noted that the performance had reached 619,000 views just over a month after it was posted.
A milestone that brought Clarkson back to her musical roots
The Kelly Clarkson Show premiered in 2019, meaning the 1,000th episode arrived only about six years after the daytime program began.
The landmark episode was filmed at the show’s Rockefeller Center studio in New York, where the program had moved after relocating from Los Angeles in 2023. The milestone episode featured Tyler Perry, Alicia Vikander and Venezuelan pop duo Mau y Ricky.
For Clarkson, the occasion also marked another reminder of the musical career that came before the talk show.
She first became a national star in 2002 after winning the inaugural season of American Idol. Her subsequent career produced three U.S. No. 1 albums and three No. 1 singles, along with numerous American Music Awards, Emmys, Grammys and MTV Video Music Awards.
At 43, Clarkson has spent decades developing the vocal ability that was on full display in this particular Kellyoke performance. While her daytime television career has placed her in a different spotlight, performances such as this make it clear that music remains a defining part of her identity as an artist.
Tyler Perry, Alicia Vikander and Mau y Ricky join the celebration
The 1,000th episode wasn’t built around music alone.
Tyler Perry joined Clarkson as a guest, while Alicia Vikander and Mau y Ricky also appeared. Mau y Ricky, the Venezuelan duo, performed and helped raise a toast to the milestone by giving Clarkson Venezuelan rum.
Vikander brought a Swedish candy for Clarkson to try, although the sweet treat did not receive quite the enthusiastic response she may have hoped for. Perry, meanwhile, appeared as part of the promotional run for his film Duplicity.
The episode offered plenty of the humor and conversation viewers have come to expect from the show, but the emotional centerpiece came later.
Clarkson becomes emotional watching her children
During the show’s “What I’m Liking” segment, producers surprised Clarkson with a montage looking back at appearances by her children, River Rose and Remy, throughout the show’s run.
The tribute was enough to bring Clarkson close to tears as she watched the memories unfold. The montage included Remy’s performance of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” earlier in 2025, adding another personal musical moment to a celebration already centered around his mother’s singing.
A fitting song for a landmark episode
The choice of “I Have Nothing” gave the 1,000th episode a particularly fitting musical centerpiece.
Clarkson didn’t need a large production or a complicated arrangement to make the performance memorable. The piano, acoustic guitar and her voice carried the song, allowing the emotional weight of Houston’s original to remain at the heart of the performance.
The milestone episode aired on March 20, 2025, as the 114th episode of the show’s sixth season, with “I Have Nothing” officially listed as that day’s Kellyoke performance.
For a singer whose career began with American Idol and grew into one of the most recognizable voices in American pop, it was an appropriate way to mark 1,000 episodes of television.
Clarkson may have spent much of the past several years behind a talk-show desk, but this performance offered a powerful reminder of what first put her in the spotlight. On a milestone day for The Kelly Clarkson Show, she returned to the microphone and took on Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” with the confidence, emotion and vocal strength that have defined her career.