“You’re singing everybody’s songs better than they sing ‘em!” country star Lainey Wilson jokingly told Kelly Clarkson.

Whether she’s covering a classic Etta James song or a No. 1 hit by Hozier, Kelly Clarkson can sing literally anything. Time and time again on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the Grammy-winning musician blows viewers away with her beloved “Kellyoke” performances where she covers anything from timeless tracks to chart-topping songs. So much so that people are convinced “The Kelly Clarkson Effect” is very much a real thing.

Read on to learn all about what “The Kelly Clarkson Effect” is and how several fellow musicians have reacted to her jaw-dropping covers through the years.

Kelly Clarkson sings during The Kelly Clarkson Show Episode 7I179. Photo: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

What is “The Kelly Clarkson Effect”?

Coined by fans on social media, “The Kelly Clarkson Effect” refers to what happens when Clarkson covers a famous song on her talk show. She makes it her own, she takes it up a notch, and many believe it’s better than the original.

As one tweet put it, “No one covers a song like Kelly Clarkson…her ability to make it her own spans almost every genre.” And as another jokingly explained, “Once Kelly Clarkson does a cover of your song.. that’s it, pack up, you’re done. It’s her song, you don’t own it.”

The phenomenon was even mentioned at the 2024 Grammy Awards. During the ceremony, host Trevor Noah asked the winners to keep their acceptance speeches tight, or else they’d bring in the big guns. “If you go too long, there’s gonna be consequences, right?” he said. “We’re gonna get Kelly Clarkson to cover one of your songs better than you ever could.”

What’s more, Rolling Stone has also ranked Clarkson’s best “Kellyoke” covers, describing the task as “tough to narrow down.”

Lainey Wilson had the sweetest reaction to Kelly Clarkson covering her song

Back in 2023 during a show at Clarkson’s Las Vegas Residency at The Bakkt Theater, she covered “Heart Like a Truck” by Lainey Wilson. A year later, the country star thanked Clarkson for doing so.

“I know that you covered ‘Heart Like a Truck,’ and I just want to tell you this. This is coming straight from my heart, even when you’re up here just covering everybody else’s songs, it’s not like you just learned the words and you got up there. I mean, you are feeling it for everything that it is,” Wilson said during a March 2024 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show. “I just want to say thank you for doing that. That means so much to me that you got up there and sang ‘Heart Like a Truck.’”

“You’re singing everybody’s songs better than they sing ‘em!” Wilson jokingly added. “You better quit.”