Selena Gomez Applauds Kelly Clarkson’s Cover Of Her Hit ‘Rare’: ‘Love This & You’

AP

After Kelly Clarkson delivered a powerful rendition of Selena Gomez’s ‘Rare,’ Sel herself said she absolutely ‘loved’ the ‘American Idol’ alum’s performance.

Kelly Clarkson kicked off the new year with a string of new episodes of The Kelly Clarkson Show, and on Wednesday’s program, the 38-year-old singer brought a little “Rare” flavor. During the Jan. 6 edition of Kellyoke, Kelly and her band, Y’all, busted out an upbeat version of Selena Gomez’s 2020 hit. Kelly’s version of “Rare” got the seal approval from Selena herself. “Love this and [heart emoji] you,” Selena, 28, tweeted while sharing a clip of Kelly’s performance.

The love between Kelly and Selena goes both ways. Selena stopped by The Kelly Clarkson Show in March 2020 (the same month Kelly covered “Lose You To Love Me”) to discuss her Rare album, and during the chat, Selena opened up about her insecurities. “I know that people may not think I’m the greatest singer,” said Selena. “But I just work my ass off. I really love writing and creating and creating melodies and growing.” Upon hearing this, Kelly did her best to shut down Selena’s inner saboteur by giving Sel a pep talk.

“I want to point something out,” said Kelly. “The best singer in the world, talking to everyone in the world right now, is not the loudest, and is not the, you know, ‘Oh my god, you sing like Whitney Houston.’ The best singers in the world move you. And that comes from all different sounds and styles, and from a singer to a singer, it’s beautiful what you do, and I love your record. I love big huge songs, but I love singing your music, it means something, and it moves people. So, don’t ever negate your gift because it’s powerful.”

During this chat, Selena also spoke about Rare was her chance “to say all the things that I wanted to say in that way, which was talking about relationships and talking about difficult times or being vulnerable or being stuck in your head because I can do that a lot. I wanted it to feel good. I wanted it to feel like every word mattered, and you could feel it physically. I’m still in the studio actually now because I feel like it’s inspired me, and I want to keep going.”

A day before Kelly shared her performance of “Rare,” fans were buzzing about Selena’s ex, The Weeknd. The R&B singer, who dated Selena for 10 months back in 2017, released the official video for “Save Your Tears.” Many fans thought that the actress cast in the music video bore a resemblance to his ex-girlfriend. “How is no one talking about how the girl looks so much like Selena G,” one YouTube commenter said, while another added, “Girl dancing looks like Selena.”