It’s been a minute since former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland released a full-length pop album. Way more than a minute, actually, more like over a decade. But on the Kelly Clarkson Show on Friday (Feb. 23) “Kisses Down Low” singer explained her long absence from the studio and why she’s gearing up to get back to it.
When Clarkson asked if there was any new music on the horizon, Rowland coyly answered, “coming… later,” as the host and audience broke out into applause about the tease of the long-awaited follow-up to 2013’s Talk a Good Game LP.
“I’m finally inspired,” Rowland explained. “I’m finally inspired, you can’t just be like writing about anything and I don’t want just another sexy song. I want to talk about so many different things and I’m really excited about the topic this album [unintelligible].”
The singer was on the show to promote her co-starring role in the new Tyler Perry Netflix legal thriller Mea Culpa alongside Trevante Rhodes (Birdbox), and she agreed with Clarkson’s riff about the need to “break up the monotony” of the music industry grind to keep your inspiration and passion burning. That might explain why Rowland, 43, who also co-produced the film, has been off the music radar for a bit.
After releasing her debut solo album, Simply Deep, in 2002 and launching the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Dilemma” (feat. Nelly) and the singles “Stole” and “Can’t Nobody,” Rowland has been ping-ponging between music and film in the years since. She appeared in 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason, 2012’s Think Like a Man, 2020’s Bad Hair and 2022’s The Curse of Bridge Hollow, while also dabbling in reality TV mentoring on Clash of the Choirs, X Factor UK (and U.S.), The Voice Australia and a guest spot on ABC sitcom Grown-Ish as Edie last year.
She followed up her solo debut with 2007’s Ms. Kelly and 2011’s Here I Am and then Talk a Good Game, on which she co-wrote all but one of the 12 tracks. Though her solo album output has slowed, Rowland has continued to drop one-off singles over the past decade, including “Conceited” (2016), “Crown” (2019), “Crazy” (2020) and “Black Magic” (2021).
Watch Rowland on the Kelly Clarkson Show below.
