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Kelly Clarkson may not have the same reputation as Taylor Swift for writing songs that skewer her ex-boyfriends, but nobody can argue that “Since U Been Gone” is one of the best breakup anthems ever. The American Idol alum doubled down in 2023 with Chemistry — an entire album inspired by her divorce from Brandon Blackstock. Maybe time has healed some of those wounds, because the inspiration behind her newest single is something decidedly different — Only Murders in the Building.
Thankfully, Kelly Clarkson hasn’t gone full true crime podcast with her next project (although that actually might be intriguing). It was one specific line from Martin Short’s hilarious Oliver on the popular murder mystery (streaming with a Hulu subscription) that inspired Kelly Clarkson’s new song “Where Have You Been.” As she explained in a behind-the-scenes video:
Why I wrote it makes me sound like such a weird stalker, but it’s not weird, man. I was watching Only Murders in the Building. I love Martin Short, and I’ve always loved him. I believe it’s the first time Meryl [Streep] came in that show, but she was on stage, and — oddly enough, [it’s] not about Meryl — it was about Martin Short’s face.
Meryl Streep made her OMITB debut in Season 3 as struggling actress Loretta Durkin who gets cast in Oliver’s play. It’s unknown if the acting legend will return for Only Murders in the Building Season 5 (which is expected to be part of the 2025 TV schedule), but it seems likely, given the characters’ relationship. The chemistry between the two was off the charts from the start, which Kelly Clarkson couldn’t help but notice. She said:
He came up, and he was just in such awe. It was just a pure moment, and everything on his face when he said those words, he looked at her, and he was just so in awe, and he was like, ‘Where have you been?’ I kept going back to it, because I was like, ‘Oh my God. So much was said,’ and I was like, ‘That’s a song.’
The connection between the characters has led to rumors that Martin Short and Meryl Streep are dating in real life, and Short recalled that Streep was even brought to tears after one of their pivotal romantic scenes. While they’ve never confirmed an off-screen romance, fans can’t get enough of their viral moments, and hats off to Kelly Clarkson for recognizing true love when she sees it. She continued:
You have to be grown to really know what that’s like. ‘I thought I had found what it was gonna be. I thought this; I was wrong.’ But now you see it standing in front of you. I was so moved. And so the whole song came out of those words from Martin Short.
I agree with Kelly Clarkson that as strange as it may sound that she was inspired by Only Murders in the Building, it’s really not that weird and actually quite beautiful. What is kind of funny, though, is that it’s not the singer’s only connection to the show. Martin Short’s co-star and longtime friend Steve Martin actually played banjo on Clarkson’s song “I Hate Love” from her Chemistry album. Now if only she can collab with Selena Gomez on something …