Kelly Clarkson Revealed 'The One Song in History' She’s Afraid to Cover

Kayla Blanton
·2 min read
Photo credit: Matt Winkelmeyer - Getty Images
Photo credit: Matt Winkelmeyer - Getty Images
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  • Kelly Clarkson revealed the “one song in history” that she's afraid to cover.

  • It’s a record-breaking song by Latin pop star Luis Fonsi.

  • Now, fans are hoping she tackles the challenge.

The Kellyoke segment of The Kelly Clarkson Show features some mind-blowing Clarkson covers—from Aerosmith’s “Dream On” to Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface” to “Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash—proving that the “Breakaway” singer has the chops to take on almost any genre. At this point, you’d think she’d be up for covering anything—but there’s one song that still gives her stage fright.

She made the realization on The Voice while working with her Battle Rounds team adviser and Latin pop star Luis Fonsi. “I just realized something,” she told him in Monday’s pre-taped introduction. “You have the one song in history I’m afraid to cover, ‘Despacito’ ... and I have practiced so hard because I love singing in Spanish, or in just different languages.”

Fonsi replied with a laugh: “Yeah, it is a lot of lyrics. It’s wordy for me!”

“And it’s like the biggest song of all time,” Clarkson continued. “I’m kind of like, ‘You know what? I’m going to leave that alone.’”

In all honesty, her intimidation isn’t so out of place. Fonsi and Daddy Yankee broke seven Guinness world records with the song—including most-streamed track worldwide—and tied Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men for the longest No. 1 ranking on Billboard’s Hot 100 at 16 weeks in 2017.

Still, Clarkson should’ve known that making such a bold claim would only create demand for an epic performance. “Aw, come on, you have to cover it now!” Fonsi exclaimed. And fans agreed.

“Seriously...pls god make it happen,” one person tweeted. “She should sing it on @KellyClarksonTV for #Kellyoke,” another wrote.

So far, Clarkson has offered no response—but that might be because she took the week off to rest up after feeling under the weather. According to Today, she tested negative for COVID, but decided to have former Voice coach and singer Kelsea Ballerini fill in for her just to be safe.

“You are doing such an amazing job @KelseaBallerini!!” Clarkson tweeted Monday night. “Thank you for taking great care of #TeamKelly for me. See y’all next week!”

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