Chris Daughtry Opens Up to Kelly Clarkson About Daughter’s Suicide

Pictured: (l-r) Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson — (Photo by: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)

American Idol season 4 alum Chris Daughtry stopped by the Kelly Clarkson Show to share Idol memories and open up about his difficult year.

During his interview with the OG American Idol winner, Chris opened up about losing his mother and step-daughter Hannah in the same week. 

“It was right before the tour,” he said. “I lost my mom to cancer and then…exactly one week later, lost my daughter to suicide.”

“The guilt is the hardest”

Chris confided that while he processed both losses very differently, the  “common denominator in both is the guilt.” Things Chris felt he could have done differently keep crossing his mind. “The ‘I wish I would have said this, I wish I would have done this, I wish I would have called more’.”

“The guilt is the hardest,” Chris confessed, “Because you can’t do anything about it.” He added, “There’s always gonna be reminders of what you could have done. I tend to beat myself up a lot over it.” 

Hannah wanted a “natural burial”

Despite the tough times, it’s been “a very healing time.” He and his family, including wife Deanna have “dealt with it in a very healthy way.” His daughter wanted a “natural burial” which the rest of the family took part in. Hannah was laid to rest in a simple basket, rather than a casket. Each of the family members had a shovel and “got to cover the basket.” 

Watching his children go through that process was “heavy, magical.” Said Chris, “It’s hard to explain.” Kelly looked astonished as he described the process, noting that it “seems kind of healing.” Chris replied, “very healing.”

Chris Daughtry Opens Up about his Daughter’s Suicide on The Kelly Clarkson Show

Daughter performs “Changes are Coming” from their latest album

Later, the show aired a clip of Chris performing “Changes are Coming” from his latest album Dearly Beloved.

About releasing his first independent album Chris said, “I wasn’t chasing anything, I wasn’t trying to write a radio song…it was just ‘let’s write’.” He added, “That was such a gratifying experience.” 

Chris recalled vising Graceland during American Idol the Week he got voted off

Earlier in the interview, Kelly wondered if Chris had ever been to Graceland. He had been to the iconic home of Elvis Presley. During his season of Idol in 2006, the show had an Elvis Presley Week. The Top 4 singers traveled to Graceland and met Priscilla Presley and Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie. (At the time, !9 Entertainment owned the Elvis Presley corporate entity.)

That week, Chris sang “Suspicious Minds” and felt totally confident.”I’m like…I know this jam!”But then…SHOCKER! Viewers voted him off the show. Nevertheless, for Chris, “It was the week I was most proud of,” Chris said, calling the trip “an incredible experience.”

About mj santilli 34833 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!