KELLY CLARKSON ANNOUNCES ALL I EVER WANTED TOUR NASHVILLE, TN July 21, 2009 – Pop superstar Kelly Clarkson announced today her much anticipated ALL I EVER WANTED Tour for the fall of 2009. Joining Clarkson are red-hot Australian sister duo The Veronicas and rising band Parachute. The high-energy tour kicks off in Uncasville, CT on October 2nd and concludes in Hollywood, Florida on December 13th, covering 32 total U.S. and Canadian markets. Steve Moore of MEG/AEG Live Nashville will promote the bulk of the tour. “We are thrilled to work with Kelly Clarkson again. She is truly one of the best vocalists in the business. And The Veronicas and Parachute round out a superstar lineup,” Moore said. Clarkson has sold more than 20 million albums since her 2002 debut. Her current All I Ever Wanted release shattered Billboard records, when “My Life Would Suck Without You” jumped from #97 to #1 in its first week of release. Clarkson premiered her current single “Already Gone” on The Late Show with David Letterman last week. Concert attendees can expect to hear these latest hits including “I Do Not Hook Up” from the tour’s namesake album, along with her signature pop anthems. The Veronicas, who delivered five top 10 singles in Australia on their debut album, have now earned platinum record success with the electro-rock sizzler “Untouched.” Parachute’s current single “She Is Love” continues to climb both Hot AC and Top 40 charts. Tickets for the first shows go on sale August 15th, with the remaining on-sales rolling out in the coming weeks. Fans can find out more, including ticket outlets, by visiting www.kellyclarkson.com. Tour dates, cities, and venues follow: DATE CITY VENUE October 2 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino October 4 Portland, ME Cumberland County Civic Center October 6 New York, NY Hammerstein Ballroom October 9 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel & Casino October 10 Fairfax, VA Patriot Center October 13 Boston, MA Agganis Arena at Boston University October 15 Orillia, ON Casino Rama Entertainment Centre October 17 Youngstown, OH Covelli Centre October 19 Pikeville, KY Eastern Kentucky Expo Center October 21 Knoxville, TN Knoxville Civic Coliseum October 23 Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Theatre October 25 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre October 27 Chicago, IL Rosemont Theatre October 29 Lincoln, NE Pershing Center October 31 St. Charles, MO Family Arena November 2 Cedar Park, TX Cedar Park Center November 4 Lubbock, TX United Spirit Arena November 6 Las Vegas, NV The Joint November 7 Phoenix, AZ Arizona State Fair November 18 Victoria, BC Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre November 20 Calgary, AB Saddledome November 22 Kelowna, BC Prospera Place November 24 Seattle, WA WaMu Theater November 28 Reno, NV Reno Events Center November 29 San Jose, CA Event Center at San Jose University December 1 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center at Fresno State December 3 Las Cruces, NM Pan American Center December 5 Beaumont, TX Ford Park Arena December 7 Corpus Christi, TX American Bank Center December 10 Columbus, GA Columbus Civic Center December 11 Pensacola, FL Pensacola Civic Center December 13 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena ------------------------------------------------------- KELLY CLARKSON ALL I EVER WANTED "I just want to be able to look back at this album and be proud, and to think, 'Man, that was awesome!'" With her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted, Clarkson demonstrates her eagerness to continue branching out, and to push her music in new and unexpected directions. Though she has sold over twenty million records around the world; landed eight singles in the Top Ten; and won Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards, American Music Awards, and even been nominated for a CMA Award, she maintains that she's far more interested in challenging herself than in repeating herself. Clarkson's enthusiasm is instantly apparent, even infectious, as she races to talk about each of the new songs. "A lot of it has a soulful, '70s rock vibe," she says, "and then some is more club/dance stuff—'If I Can't Have You' is like the Killers-meetsthe Eurythmics." But she also shows her softer, more emotional side with "If No One Will Listen" and her own composition, "Cry," which she says is "basically a country song with pop production, incredibly sad but still strong." Clarkson points to the album's first single, the unforgettably titled "My Life Would Suck Without You" (produced by pop wizards Dr. Luke and Max Martin and written by the wo with Claude Kelly) as an example of her need to personalize and connect with all of her material. "They write great catchy, sassy songs," she says. "But it became a very different song from how it started. We changed the point of view, and other things throughout, because we had to make it more Kelly Clarkson. And Luke and Max love that, because it's a challenge for them to make a song really work for me." The album's defiant track "I Do Not Hook Up" comes courtesy of Katy Perry. "I've been a fan of hers since before 'I Kissed a Girl,'" says Clarkson. "And when I heard that song, it really felt like something I could have written myself." She laughs as she describes "I Want You" and its surprising theme. "First, it's not a boy-bashing song, so that's already different for me," she says. "Plus, I wrote it, so that makes it even weirder!" The range of All I Ever Wanted shouldn't come as a shock, though, considering the wild ride that Texas-born Kelly Clarkson has lived. She was, of course, catapulted into the spotlight in 2002 as the very first American Idol winner. ("Our show was so different from how it is now," she says. "Now there's all this pressure, all these comparisons, but we were just a bunch of kids that wanted to make music—it was almost like performing in bars for ten people, like I used to.") Her superstardom was secured with Breakaway in 2005. That album sold over ten million copies, spun off five Top Ten hits, and stayed on the charts for two full years. But the platinum-selling follow-up, 2007's My December, arrived surrounded by widespread rumors and speculation. Clarkson, for one, still doesn't know what the fuss was all about. "Really, it was a very positive experience," she says. "Mostly I learned about how people can twist things—I've never met one artist that agreed with their label about every single thing, but people made such a big deal out of it. The label saw that I wanted to push the envelope, they let me make the record I wanted to make, and now I can make another one." So when it came time to choose songs for All I Ever Wanted, Clarkson knew what she was looking for. "Ninety-nine per cent of the time, I'm a lyrics girl," she says. "I like the more melodic, formula stuff because I grew up loving pop music, but most of the time I'm totally about the lyrics and the message of the song. "I could always sing all of these styles," she continues, "but I think only now am I getting more comfortable with the people I work with, and people are getting more comfortable with me, getting to know me and what I like." She says that working with producers Sam Watters and Louis Biancaniello on "Whyyouwannabringmedown," which she describes as having "kind of a punk-British Invasion sound," was the album's turning point. "I sang that song through I don't know how many times, just because I was having so much fun," she says. "It was new and it was fresh and it didn’t sound like anything on the radio. And after that, I went to my manager and said that I wanted to make a really fun, feisty album, and just wanted to go all the way with every song." Clarkson penned about half of the album, but it's hard to pin down her work as representing any single style. "My writing is all over the place," she says. "I do love writing sad, depressing songs—that's definitely fun for me. But I'm very much a writer of whatever I'm going through, what I see in my life. And I'm 26, so I change every day!" Mostly, she's excited to get back on the road and take the songs of All I Ever Wanted onto the stage. "Even when I'm recording, I'm always thinking about how I'm going to do a song live, what I'll be able to bring to it. I make records for touring—it's my favorite part of what I do." Through the highs and lows, the triumphs and controversies, Kelly Clarkson has retained, even strengthened, her love for all styles of music. With All I Ever Wanted, she's able to fully reveal how far that love extends. "This time, I wanted to show the extremes of what I can do," she says. "That's what keeps me interested, and keeps the audience interested. "I never want to make just one sound," says Kelly Clarkson. "The worst thing to me is when all the songs on an album sound the same. If you have that choice, why wouldn't you want to bring out all the different sides and colors of your personality?"