It’s almost hard to remember that Kelly Clarkson got her start as the very first winner of American Idol. The show definitely launched her career and changed her life.

Years before we ever heard the name Kelly Clarkson, she was a little girl in Texas who had been abandoned by her father. The broken hearted child grew up, became a huge success and a happily married wife.

As many singer-songwriters do, she uses her pain and her experience to create meaningful and emotional songs.  One such song is “Piece by Piece.” Clarkson often has trouble making it through this song without shedding a tear. It’s a very personal song about the healing of her heart.

As the lyrics say,

Piece by piece, he restores my faith

That a man can be kind and the father could, stay

In this song, Clarkson is talking about how her husband has restored her faith in men and fathers, but it’s a slow piece by piece process to get there because her world was so shattered when her father abandoned her family.

Clarkson was performing “Piece by Piece” on stage in Greenville, South Carolina. The crowd cheered and sang along. Then something unexpected happened.

Clarkson’s husband, Brandon Blackstock, walked out on stage holding a guitar. Clarkson didn’t see him, but the crowd did. They cheered louder than ever, but Clarkson was still oblivious to what was going on.

Slowly, Blackstock walked behind his wife and over to where she could see him. She tried but couldn’t keep singing. She completely lost her composure, overwhelmed with the surprise of seeing her husband onstage, especially while singing such an emotional song that she wrote about him.

Clarkson addressed the audience, saying, “This is my husband.” Everyone cheered even louder.

Clarkson tried to sing again. She seemed to be singing the song directly to her husband, which was super sweet. It was even more emotional since Clarkson was pregnant at the time, and she was singing about how her husband “can be kind and the father could, stay.”

At the end of the song, Clarkson leaned over and gave her husband a kiss. The crowd loved it.

Watch Kelly Clarkson get the surprise of her life in the video below.

Over on YouTube, many people have written wonderful comments about this video. One person wrote, “You can tell Kelly and Brandon really love one another.” Another said, “It’s so good to see a couple that truly loves each other…. so rare these days.”

If you’re married, has your spouse ever done something sweet that completely surprised you?