Kelly Clarkson Joins Sarah McLachlan for a Stunning Acoustic Duet — and Fans Say Their ‘Otherworldly’ Harmonies Gave Them Goosebumps
Kelly Clarkson has shared the stage with countless powerhouse singers over the years, but her latest duet carried a little more meaning — she was singing beside one of the women who inspired her to become a singer in the first place.
Clarkson joined Sarah McLachlan for an intimate acoustic performance during the singer-songwriter’s appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Two instantly recognizable voices, a stripped-back arrangement and some remarkably delicate harmonies were all it took.
Fans quickly filled social media with praise, calling the performance “beautiful,” “special” and capable of giving them “goosebumps.”
One reaction perhaps summed it up best:
“Those harmonies are other worldly.”
Kelly Clarkson and Sarah McLachlan Finally Sing Together
McLachlan appeared as part of Clarkson’s Songs & Stories segment, discussing her career and songwriting while performing several songs for the studio audience.
One of the evening’s highlights came when Clarkson joined her for “Reminds Me.”
The song appears on McLachlan’s latest album, Better Broken, with the original recording featuring Katie Gavin of MUNA.
For this performance, Clarkson stepped into the duet.
Rather than overwhelm the song with two powerhouse voices, the singers kept things restrained.
The acoustic setting gave their individual tones plenty of room while allowing their harmonies to become the focus.
McLachlan later shared footage from the performance and described Clarkson as “a new voice on this special love song duet.”
“Such a delight to sing ‘Reminds Me’ with @kellyclarkson,” she added.
Fans Couldn’t Get Over Their Harmonies
Listeners immediately began praising how naturally the two voices worked together.
“That sounds amazing together,” one fan wrote while celebrating McLachlan’s voice and songwriting.
Another called them “two of the prettiest voices in music,” adding that they sounded beautiful harmonizing together.
Others simply admitted the duet gave them “goosebumps.”
But perhaps the biggest compliment was how quickly viewers started demanding that the performance become something more.
“Can this be a weekly series please,” one person pleaded.
Another had an even more ambitious suggestion:
“So y’all are releasing an album together, right?”
It wasn’t the only opportunity viewers had to hear the two singers combine their voices.
During McLachlan’s Songs & Stories appearance, she and Clarkson also performed material including “River” and “Angel.”
For Clarkson, those collaborations carried a deeply personal significance.
Sarah McLachlan Helped Inspire Kelly Clarkson to Sing
Between performances, Clarkson revealed just how important McLachlan’s music had been to her own journey.
“Your voice is one of the reasons why I am a singer,” Clarkson told her.
She also identified McLachlan as one of her major musical influences.
That admission transformed the performances into something more than another celebrity duet.
Long before Clarkson won American Idol and became one of her generation’s most recognizable vocalists, she had been listening to McLachlan.
Now she was sitting beside her, trading verses and harmonizing on the same songs.
From Teenage Record Deal to Inspiring Another Generation
McLachlan also reflected on the beginning of her career during their conversation.
She described signing a record contract at just 19 years old as her “golden ticket.”
Clarkson immediately offered another perspective.
“We got the golden ticket,” she responded, “because you got a contract and we got [your] music.”
It was a simple comment, but one that captured the relationship between the two singers remarkably well.
McLachlan’s music helped influence Clarkson.
Clarkson eventually became an enormously successful singer herself.
And decades later, the two voices finally came together in performances that left fans asking for an entire album.
Kelly Clarkson has performed with plenty of music legends, but singing beside Sarah McLachlan was different. This was one of her musical heroes — and after hearing their voices blend together, fans had only one complaint: one duet simply wasn’t enough.