Katy Perry Jokes She Can “Never Sing” One Of Her Biggest Hits Again

Katy Perry might be planning a return to music following her American Idol resignation, but she’ll be steering clear of one of her biggest hits because of Kelly Clarkson.

On March 19, Clarkson, who won Idol’s first-ever season in 2002, delighted viewers of her show with a cover of Perry’s 2012 single “Wide Awake.” The performance soon generated buzz online, where fans praised Clarkson’s slowed-down rendition.

“This performance is perfection! I love the rearrangement,” one user gushed on Instagram, while another added, “This might be better than the original.” Among those commenting was Perry herself, who jokingly wrote under a video of the performance, “Ok dang I can never sing that again.”

Responding to the singer’s comment, one user joked, “Once Kelly covers your song, it’s no longer your song. She makes it her own and you never get it back.”

“Wide Awake” was the final single from Perry’s reissued third studio album, Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was inspired by “major life changes,” including her divorce from Russell Brand.

“It's kind of like the labyrinth of my life in the last two years,” Perry told MTV in 2012. “I just wanted to tell a story about myself kind of going through this journey, maybe sometimes trying to get out of the maze. There’s good parts, there’s bad parts, and the whole time there’s the younger version of me leading me through.”

This isn’t the first time Clarkson has covered Perry’s discography in recent years. During the “Kellyoke” musical segment of her show, the singer-turned-daytime host has sung 2013’s “Roar” and 2011’s “The One That Got Away.”