Kelly Clarkson Nails A Country Staple On 'Kellyoke'

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Kelly Clarkson covered a Keith Whitley country classic on her show segment dubbed "Kellyoke" this week, singing Whitley's number one hit and very last single before his death, "I'm No Stranger To The Rain." Whitley died of alcohol poisoning at age 34, five months after the single was released.

That song won Whitley a posthumous award for Single of the Year at the 1990 CMA Awards and won him a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1990.

Whitley has long been cited as a musical influence by many of today's country stars, including Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, and Chris Young.

Many fans reacted to the song being posted to YouTube, including one who wrote, "I've loved this Whitley song seen him sang it in concert the whole crowd sang with him. Great cover, my Love."

Another fan commented, "When she sings country, it's like something I have never heard before."

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Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media GroupWriter

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.