Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson wrapped up her yearlong Studio Sessions Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, which ran from July 11, 2025 to Aug. 15. Famously known for winning the first season of “American Idol” back in 2002, she has gone on eight headlining concerts tours and five co-headlining concerts tours, excluding her two promotional tours and two Las Vegas residencies. Clarkson launched Studio Sessions “as an intimate, soul-bearing experience,” a project created to bring the studio to the stage, focusing entirely on connecting with her fans.
The crowd waited in anticipation, the noise quiet and still, for Clarkson’s show to start. When the lights came up, the stage looked less like a standard concert and more like a recording studio brought to life. Clarkson wore a sparkly, sequined Stevie Nicks t-shirt on the opening night of her residency, paying homage to an artist who helped shape her legendary voice.
For her final show, Clarkson wore casual black pants with a classic Nirvana t-shirt, attributing them as another artist that’s helped define her own music. Little did the audience know, she would ensure that the musicians in her band got this same level of attention.
Clarkson noted that she was “nothing without all these musicians” up on stage. Guitars strummed in unison. Drums intensified the mood of the other instruments. Saxophones, horns and violins added variety to the songs, while keyboards became the foundation for other instruments to build off of.
She also introduced the audience to some of her band members. Joe Ayoub played bass, while the drums were played by Steve Jordan. Meanwhile, Allison Iraheta, Aaron Encinas and Nayanna Holley sang the backup vocals. She also gave credit to Jason Halbert, the music director for the show. As a whole, Clarkson’s band is composed of 21 musicians, including keyboard, horns and strings players.
These musicians weren’t just there to accompany Clarkson. Throughout the night, they were given opportunities to showcase their own unique talents, with Clarkson ensuring that they were given just as much time to shine as she was.
The main setlist consisted of 21 songs, with three of them coming after the encore. Lasting two hours, the show included Clarkson’s most popular tunes, like “Breakaway,” “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” and “Since U Been Gone.”
During “Dance With Me,” Clarkson asked the audience to clap to the music with her. Just as the lyrics call to “feel the music,” the claps created a shared sense of community through a unified rhythm. Then, during “Heartbeat Song,” the performance drifted away from the mainstream, synthetic sound of the recorded version. Rather, the elevated presence of the drums from the live band added a vibrant energy that remained persistent throughout the track. Later, during “Where Have You Been,” Ayoub performed a closing solo as the audience shined their phone flashlights. While the song has a slower melody, the bass guitar introduced rich depth, blending strikingly with Clarkson’s high notes.
While Clarkson changed outfits, her band performed a piece on their own. “Live And Let Die,” a track written by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney for the iconic 1973 “James Bond” film, gave the musicians another opportunity to take over the stage. All the instruments worked together to craft a dynamic musical landscape. Wonder and awe filled the room, making the overall piece enjoyable as the musicians displayed their talents to the audience, who watched in stunned amazement.
Clarkson enjoyed interacting with the audience, receiving a “From Justin to Kelly” t-shirt from one fan and listening to another recount their memory of watching Clarkson on “American Idol.” Between these interactions, telling jokes and sharing laughs with fans, Clarkson added a sense of familiarity and comfort to her show, as if someone was talking with an old friend. This feeling created an intimate atmosphere, making the event feel less like a rehearsed production and more like a special, personalized experience for attendees.
The most profound moment of the show was when Clarkson shared an eye-opening memory she had at the start of her musical career. After winning “American Idol,” she met a deaf fan, and at first glance, couldn’t understand how someone who was deaf could experience music. She soon realized that that fan could feel the music in a way that she herself couldn’t. The fan could experience music through vibrations and rhythmic beats — physically feeling the music rather than hearing it. It was at that moment that Clarkson became all the more humble, struck by a newfound awe for the experiences of others.
“I was almost jealous,” Clarkson admitted. “I was like, ‘What does that feel like?’”
The interaction taught Clarkson an important lesson in the power of music and art and how they can be experienced through different senses. From there, Clarkson reiterated that the musicians on stage were an important part of the show itself.
“Usually when you’re on the road, you don’t have that many musicians on stage, right? So, these musicians, y’all,” Clarkson began. “They’re so crazy gifted. They’re so talented.”
She explained that she loved being able to work with artists who could perform whatever genre she asked. Clarkson also described the significance of experiencing music live, comparing the future of artificial intelligence to what humanity already has within ourselves.
“There is something I do think that’s very human about hearing something, and everything you’re hearing and feeling is live,” Clarkson said. “That’s the thing I love about being in the studio. You feel that live raw thing that’s happening. Like you feel everything in the moment.”
The live band didn’t just simply play Clarkson’s recorded songs, they reinvented them. By the end of the night, the most noticeable part of the final show wasn’t hearing Clarkson sing smash hits, but to hear those same tracks played by phenomenal musicians who made them their own.
Having an all live band accompanying Clarkson added power and volume to the songs and made the familiar pieces feel different but all the more monumental. It really felt as if you weren’t watching a studio album being played back to you, but that you were in the studio yourself with Clarkson and all of the musicians.
Julia Magdei is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the summer 2026 quarter. She can be reached at jmagdei@uci.edu.
Edited by Travis Foley.
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