Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Drivers License’ Cover Turns The Olivia Rodrigo Hit Into A Pop-Rock Ballad

For nearly two years now, Kelly Clarkson has had her own daytime talk show, the fittingly titled The Kelly Clarkson Show. Over the course of 300+ episodes, the program has yielded some fun moments, like chatting with Seth Rogen about a certain iconic The 40-Year-Old Virgin line, a terrific poop story, and an awkward Vin Diesel moment. A recurring feature on the show is “Kellyoke,” in which Clarkson and her band bust out a cover. Well, on today’s episode, the chosen song was Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License.”

Clarkson is a seasoned vocalist, so naturally, she nailed it. Clarkson’s band put a more rock-oriented spin on the instrumental, which both works in light of the pop-rock style of Clarkson’s biggest hits and with some of the more guitar-based material on Rodrigo’s Sour album. Even in the shortened-for-TV version of the song, Clarkson got to the emotional core of the song, even if the feeling of just getting her driver’s license isn’t so fresh in her mind these days.

Clarkson isn’t the only high-profile figure to focus their attention on Rodrigo lately. Kyle MacLachlan recently turned in a wonderful Rodrigo cosplay, while Zooey Deschanel looked back at Rodrigo’s previous acting role on New Girl.

Watch Clarkson perform “Drivers License” above.

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