Kelly Clarkson w/ The Veronicas and Parachute

Few people predicted the co-star of From Justin to Kelly would become one of the most important pop singers of the decade, but Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 album Breakthrough and its mega-hit single “Since U Been Gone” were unexpected turning points in 2000s pop, proving their was a market for strong, female pop singers with rock sensibilities. It paved the way for pop singers from Katy Perry to Miley Cyrus. Clarkson’s staid 2007 follow-up, My December, became a referendum on the public’s taste for Clarkson’s darker, more serious material, arriving amid a cloud of bad press and the reported disapproval of RCA mogul Clive Davis, but Clarkson’s latest album, All I Ever Wanted, finds a comfortable balance between buoyant pop and bold assertions of independence.