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Garth Brooks got emotional as Kelly Clarkson belted out an incredible rendition of his 1989 song “The Dance” at the 43rd annual Kennedy Center Honours in Washington, D.C.
Brooks was watching the performance alongside his wife Trisha Yearwood, with the pair looking very impressed as Clarkson hit each and every note.
Brooks is being honoured at this year’s event alongside TV icon Dick Van Dyke, actress and choreographer Debbie Allen, folk-music singer Joan Baez and violinist Midori.
This year’s honourees were supposed to be honoured last year but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the ceremony.
Clarkson’s performance comes after she told Brooks on her talk show how “The Dance” had helped her cope with her divorce from Brandon Blackstock.
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“I couldn’t quite nail down the feeling,” Clarkson said. “I was, like, well, you don’t want to crap on it. Like, you don’t want to say that didn’t count or matter, but you don’t know what to put in it because it didn’t work out how you wanted and so, anyway, I kid you not, I was listening to my playlist and ‘The Dance’ came on and I was like, ‘No, that’s the thing. That’s it.’”
The singer went on to say how she wrote a song for her upcoming ninth studio album honouring Brooks’ track.
Clarkson shared, “So, it’s not like your song, like a rip-off, but I literally wrote this whole thing, like therapeutically, for me. It’s actually on my next album and it’s the whole kind of come around, like the little tag part is like, ‘Even though my heart is broken, it was worth the dance, anyway,’” singing the line that could be featured on her upcoming release.
Derek Hough, Vanessa Hudgens, Pentatonix, Gladys Knight, Emmylou Harris, Jimmie Allen and Yo-Yo Ma are also set to perform at the 2021 Kennedy Center Honours.
The event, hosted by Gloria Estefan, will air on June 6 on CBS.
It will also be available to stream on demand on the CBS app and Paramount+.