Lauren Alaina Proudly Takes the Road Less Traveled

Author Don Chase

May 3rd 10:06 AM

(L-R) Devin Dawson, Hardy and Lauren Alaina backstage at the Academy Of Country Music Honors at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for ACM)

Today’s Kick Butt Tip of the Day comes from Country music star Lauren Alaina. “The world is full of nice people. If you can’t find one, be one. Don’t be afraid. Take the road less traveled.”

I just love this. When you think about it, your hello just might be the only hello someone receives today. Your smile might be the only smile that someone sees today.

Turn Over A New Leaf

Beginning today, what if we set ourselves a goal to seek out opportunities to make this world a better place? If you are wondering, Don, how would someone go about doing that?

First, the answer is very simple. Taking action may not be so easy for the majority of us.

The simple answer is to say to yourself that you are going to say hello or engage with every person that you come in contact with today.

Then comes the difficult part. Actually doing what you told yourself you were going to do.

Let me recommend to keep things simple. When you are out and about today, just pick one person. Then, step out your comfort zone and say “good morning” or “good afternoon.” Or you might say “good to see you” or “please excuse me” or “let me help you with that.” Again, the key is to keep it simple. Just interact with one person today. Then, do the same tomorrow. At some point, you may find that you are bold enough to acknowledge five people in one day.

The amazing thing is, if you will challenge yourself just a little, very shortly, you will find that you are totally comfortable doing something that made you beyond uncomfortable in the past.

Go get ’em tiger! God don’t make no junk. You, yes you are awesome! Now go be awesome!

– Don Chase’s Kick Butt Tip of the Day is a daily motivational feature designed to give you the inspiration you need to power through your day. Check out all the Kick Butt Tips here.

Don Chase is living out his dreams, anchoring The Big Wake-Up with Don Chase & Sarah weekday mornings on KML. With over 35 years with Beasley Media, Don believes that the best is yet to come. The unofficial Mayor of Fayetteville radio, Don Chase writes about Fayetteville and North Carolina news, as well as entertaining perspectives on music, culture and more.

Kelly Clarkson's Best Kellyoke Performances Of 2024 (So Far)

It seems that Kelly Clarkson’s Kellyoke performances get better and better with each passing year. The daily segment on her talk show features the powerhouse singer playing a live rendition of popular songs spanning all genres and decades.

(Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

Kelly Clarkson’s Best Kellyoke’s

From Christina Aguilera to Chris Stapleton to Måneskin, you don’t know what song she will put her own spin on next. Since we started doing this list ranking her best Kellyoke performances back in 2022, some of our favorite covers that year include a Jennifer Lopez ballad rendition of “Waiting For Tonight,” Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” Anita Bell’s disco track “Ring My Bell,” Adele’s “Rumor Has It,” and even Radiohead’s “Exit Music (For A Film).”

In 2023, Clarkson kept fans on her toes with even more breathtaking covers. Our picks of the standout Kellyoke’s from 2023 include Taylor Swift’s version of “Better Man,” Destiny’s Child’s 2001 hit song, “Survivor,” Cher’s “Strong Enough,” Daniel Bedingfield’s pop anthem “Gotta Get Through This,” and Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey.”

RELATED: Kelly Clarkson’s Katy Perry Cover Made Katy ‘Never’ Sing It Again

Clarkson previously released an album of six of her covers from 2022 after “singing over 500” on The Kelly Clarkson Show, which she said was “near-impossible” to choose. The Kellyoke album was released in June of 2022 and features the following songs:

“Blue Bayou” by Linda Ronstadt
“Call Out My Name” by The Weeknd
“Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish
“Queen Of The Night” by Whitney Houston
“Trampoline” by SHAED and Zayn
“Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead

Her latest album was 2022’s Chemistry. When announcing her 10th studio album ahead of its release, the singer-songwriter said she didn’t want “everybody” to think that her emotions could just be simplified as angry or sad. She explained in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter), “This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship, and a whole relationship shouldn’t be just brought down to one thing. So there’s the good, the bad, the ugly thing kinda going on in it.”

With hundreds of Kellyoke performances under her belt and the number growing by the day, we conducted a list of her best performances of 2024 so far.

Take a look below at Kelly Clarkson’s best Kellyoke performances of 2024:

'Wide Awake' By Katy Perry

Kelly Clarkson’s March 19 Kellyoke cover of Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake” was so good, Perry herself commented on the social post: “ok dang I can never sing that again.” One fan hilariously offered Perry their condolences: “so sorry my sister Katy. what’s done is done.” Clarkson’s covers are so good, they sometimes sound better than the original, and this one is no exception. Clarkson tackled Perry’s 2012 hit track in the style of a ballad, with a piano accompaniment.
'Good Vibrations' By Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

Taking things to a sultry level, Kelly’s cover of Marky Marky’s 1991 hit, “Good Vibrations,” gave us some serious chills! Though we weren’t even born yet when the original dropped, we remember hearing this on the radio growing up in the ’90s. Kelly’s rendition breathes a completely new life into the hit. If we weren’t familiar with the original, we wouldn’t have even known it was a cover the way she sang it.
'Fighter' By Christina Aguilera

Kelly retained the edginess and rawness of Aguilera’s original version of 2002’s “Fighter,” even with the electric guitars. Clarkson changed up how she sang the song’s bridge and let her vocal chops loose, garnering applause and cheers from the crowds. This moment confirmed that she could go toe-to-toe with Aguilera’s range.
'Used To Be Young' By Miley Cyrus

This isn’t Kelly’s first Miley cover, and we’re sure it won’t be her last. During this Kellyoke segment, the host chose Miley’s track from 2023’s Endless Summer Vacation. The song, which is all about the naivety and mistakes we made when we were younger, was given new life the way Kelly belted out the track.
'Get On Your Feet' By Gloria Estefan

With no studio audience while taping this performance, Clarkson hyped the song up a nonexistent crowd. Crowd or not, Clarkson clearly had a ball covering this Estefan hit from 1989. The brass section and her backup singers bring so much depth to Kelly’s fun cover, where she does, in fact, ask the nonexistent crowd to join her and get on their feet.
'Ain't Nobody' By Chaka Khan

In another dance ’80s throwback, Kelly tackles Chaka Khan’s iconic 1983 hit, “Ain’t Nobody.” During half of the performance, Kelly sings the song pretty much like the original. After a minute though, she lets her voice ring high as she sings the chorus for the third time and does her personal spin on it and belts it out.
'What Was I Made For?' By Billie Eilish

Taking on Billie Eilish’s Grammy-winning smash from the Barbie soundtrack, Kelly looked stunning in a red dress while singing the melancholy track. With a piano accompaniment, Clarkson retained the sadness in her rendition, then changed the mood of it completely when she belts out “someday.” We’re sure Billie can appreciate the change-up, as we did, and hope Kelly does more covers of her songs in the future.