Kelly Clarkson Has Some ‘Fun’ With Her Paramore Cover: Watch

Don’t go crying to your mama — a new Kellyoke has arrived. On the Monday (Oct. 10) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Kelly Clarkson indirectly celebrated the end of Paramore‘s hiatus by performing an energetic cover of the band’s 2014 hit “Ain’t It Fun” less than two weeks after it announced the end of its five year hiatus.

Shining centerstage under a wash of blue lights, the three-time Grammy winner’s impressive powerhouse vocals were put on full display throughout the entirety of her performance of “Ain’t It Fun” — originally sung by fellow belting extraordinaire, Paramore’s orange-haired frontwoman Hayley Williams. As usual, Clarkson was backed by her band Y’all, who fleshed out the song’s repeating electric guitar hook and full-throttle drums.

“Ain’t it fun, living in the real world/ Ain’t it good, being all alone?” she sang as the members of Y’all rocked out behind her. “Don’t go crying to your mama, ’cause you’re on your own in the real world.”

The “Stronger” singer’s Paramore tribute comes just under two weeks after the band — also comprised of Taylor York, recently confirmed to be dating Williams, and Zac Farro — dropped “This Is Why,” the group’s first piece of new music in five years. Released alongside an accompanying music video, the song serves as both the lead single and title track of Paramore’s upcoming sixth studio album.

Out Feb. 10, This Is Why will follow the trio’s 2017 record After Laughter and its 2013 self-titled fourth album, which features “Ain’t It Fun,” one of the set’s singles. The track reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014 and spent 24 weeks total on the chart, while Paramore debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

In a recent interview, the members of Paramore explained why they took a few years off from making music as a group before coming back together to release This Is Why and embark on a fall 2022 tour, which kicked off Oct. 2. “We realized nothing is worth risking our health,” said York, who revealed that the death of his family friend was one factor that made the band realize it was time to take a break.

“You realize it was at the expense of other parts of yourself,” he continued. “I wanted to explore some deeper parts of myself and figure out why we do this, how it happened.”

“Let’s see what it’s like to not hang our identities on Paramore all the time,” added Williams, who also said she and her bandmates felt it important to be present in Nashville, their hometown, during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 rise of social issues such as Black Lives Matter. “It felt really important for us to be home while so much crazy s–t was happening.”

Watch Kelly Clarkson perform Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” on The Kelly Clarkson Show above.