Kelly Clarkson struggled to sing ballad after marriage split

Kelly Clarkson had a "hard time" singing Piece by Piece after her split from husband Brandon Blackstock.

The 41-year-old star was reluctant to perform the romantic ballad, which was inspired by her relationship with Brandon, once she filed for divorce in 2020 after seven years of marriage.

"Look, I was finding a hard time singing (Piece by Piece), like, I was like, 'I don't know if I want to really sing about that?'" Kelly said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday. "I was at a very different place when I wrote it."

Kelly wrote Piece by Piece in 2015 to compare her stable union with Brandon to her fractured relationship with her absentee father.

In one line Kelly sang, "He never walks away, he never asks for money, he takes care of me, he loves me."

Another section contained the lyrics, "But piece by piece, he collected me up off the ground, where you abandoned things."

During her recent live performances, Kelly has changed the words to give a new perspective to the track.

"I just walk away, when they ask for money. I take care of me 'cause I love me," she sang during one show over the summer.

Kelly has revealed her fans are hoping she will re-record a new version of Piece by Piece.

"I rewrote it literally an hour before I went on stage in Vegas to sing it because I was like, 'I can't sing these lyrics, but I know people want me to sing the song' and so I changed it right before the show," she explained.

"It kind of put perspective on me, as well. It was like, 'That was a lot of pressure to put on someone, you know, to pick up the pieces of something of your past.'"

Kelly and Brandon went through a difficult split, fighting over property and custody of their children - River Rose, nine, and Remington, seven.

The divorce was finalised in March 2022, with Kelly awarded primary custody of the kids.