By now, it’s safe to say that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow” (from their Academy Award–nominated film A Star Is Born) is the breakout song of 2018. Gaga even got a commemorative tattoo to honor the project, which has already swept up all of the original music accolades during awards season thus far, and seems likely to go home with Oscar gold in the category, too. On Spotify alone, the single currently has over 366,000,000 streams—and now, it’s starting to get covered by some famous fans, too.
This weekend, Kelly Clarkson gave the infectious hit a go—and the Internet promptly lost it over her killer performance. “I know there’s always a lot of competition with other artists in the industry, but there’s a lot of us that just dig each other,” Clarkson says, introducing the cover. “This song, I love it . . . . We’re gonna do our version of it, because obviously I don’t have a Bradley Cooper here. So I’m just holdin’ it down.” Clarkson proceeds to sing it effortlessly, her signature power-rasp voice lending itself perfectly to the tune; who needs it to be a duet when your voice is strong enough to go at it solo?
Fans on Twitter were quick to praise the performance. “Kelly Clarkson singing shallow is such a holy experience,” wrote on user, while another proclaimed, “I’ve begun to believe there is nothing Kelly can’t do.” It’s true: Clarkson is virtually the queen of covers, having previously nailed other hits, ranging from Adele’s “Someone Like You” to “All I Ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera. There’s no cover or genre she seemingly can’t nail.
It had us thinking: Does Clarkson deserve her own movie-musical redo? Remember that back in 2003, she starred in the critically panned From Justin to Kelly with her American Idol costar Justin Guarini, a cinematic turn that currently enjoys a 10 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. She was virtually forced into the project, having been fresh off her Idol win, but these days, Clarkson could pick the right project and totally redeem herself: She clearly has the ability, and memorable cameos on TV shows like Reba and The Crazy Ones have proven that she can act; she just needs that one person in a room of 100 who believes in her.