Sterling K. Brown brought Kelly Clarkson to near-tears on her show.
During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Monday, (April 7), Clarkson asked why he decided to use his middle name, Kelby, before going back to Sterling.
“So I went by my middle name — I went by Kelby until I was 16 years old,” Brown said. “My dad’s name is Sterling Brown Jr., my grandfather is Sterling Brown Sr., I’m Sterling Kelby Brown.:
Brown told Clarkson that part of his reason was that he wanted his own name and “it felt like Sterling was an old man’s name.”
But his view changed following his father’s passing.
“But because [my dad] passed away when I was 10, by the time I turned 16 and I hadn’t heard his name for five, five-and-a-half years, I was like, I kinda just wanna hear that name again,” Brown recalled. “So I asked people to call me Sterling.”
After Brown shared his story, Clarkson was overtaken by emotion.
“That was so sweet and beautiful,” Clarkson said as she looked away from the camera.
“It’s all good,” Brown said.
Clarkson said that she had a similar experience with her son. She explained to Brown that her 8-year-old son Remington decided to start using his middle name during a red carpet event.
“My son did this. At a red carpet. All of a sudden, the lady said, ‘What’s your name?’ — he came to the Grammys with me … He said Remington Alexander,” Clarkson recalled.
“He just chose his middle name as his last name. He just changed his name, right there in front of me,” Clarkson continued.