Grammy Girl Power Gains Muscle With Kelly Clarkson's 'Stronger'

Before her 2013 Grammy Awards nominations, Kelly Clarkson was just doing what she does best standing tall as the queen of the kiss-off anthem. And nothing proved that more than her inescapable single, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You.)"

With its fist-pumping beat and feisty lyrics, the single unsurprisingly became a hit for the former "American Idol" winner, subsequently flooding airwaves, becoming an instant add to girl-power playlists and eventually gaining a spot in the race for Song of the Year.

Yet, before it did all that, "Stronger" was everywhere but radio. In October of 2011, Clarkson tweeted the official version of the track after a leak hit the internet, shortly after, the song, along with the singer, were featured in a Toyota commercial. The empowerment-themed breakup track soon began to gain traction with Clarkson deciding to release a flash-mob music video featuring her fans nearly a month before the song hit mainstream radio in January of 2012.

Seven weeks after its release, the song became Clarkson's third to top the Billboard Hot 100 charts for three non-consecutive weeks, and eventually topped five separate Billboard charts. In July, the single surpassed Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" to become the top-selling single by a contestant from "American Idol."

Clarkson rode the success of