Kelly Clarkson Once Fired A Guitar Player On Stage In The Middle Of A Song

Don't mess with Kelly Clarkson . The first ever winner of American Idol , superstar vocalist and talk show host has built a reputation over the years as one of America's sweethearts. But she's also not afraid to put her foot down when need be - even in the middle of a show. Way back in 2005, Kelly was on her first ever headlining tour, the Breakaway Tour. But as she was wrapping up the United States leg of the tour in Portland, Oregon she suddenly found herself in need of a new guitar player before the tour went overseas...after she fired her guitar player during a show. Not only did she fire guitarist Dwayne Larring during a show, she fired him in the middle of a song when something happened that she didn't like. The video from back then is a little grainy (although we're lucky to have video at all...I'm pretty sure in 2005 I had a Motorola RAZR), but Kelly can be seen following Larring around the stage after something he does rubs her the wrong way. And in the middle of performing "A Moment Like This," Kelly suddenly breaks the news not only to Larring but to the crowd as well: "Tonight is Dwayne's last night cause he just got fired" She doesn't even miss a beat in the song, but after it's over Kelly's still fired up and addresses the incident with the crowd: "How many of you know how to respect someone? I want everybody to give Dwayne Larring, the guitarist that just went around the stage and tried to ruin this show for y'all, I want you to give him a hand right now. I'm gonna pray for ya Dwayne, because you're gonna need it. You're gonna need it when I get off this stage." She then introduced her song "Breakaway" by telling the crowd that "you gotta break away from people like that." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KG86IdtAuQ Yikes. There were all kinds of rumors that flew about what exactly it was that caused Clarkson to can him mid-show. Some people said that he flipped off a member of the crowd, and some said that he spit on someone. But Clarkson said during one of the few times that she addressed the moment in an interview that it was nothing like that: "He was having a hard time in life, and I fought hard for him because everybody was having a hard time with him on the road. And he wasn't happy. He was messing with people's gear on stage and messing with the show... Everybody goes through hard times, me included, everyone, but it just got overwhelming and it was like, 'Man, you're ruining the vibe, this has gotta end now.'" Kelly said she was more upset by the moment because she had fought so hard for Larring when it sounds like others were wanting to let him go earlier, but she did say that he was now "doing well." And as it turns out, Larring would go on to become the guitarist for Christian rock band Audio Adrenaline, having previously been the guitarist for Sonicflood before joining Clarkson's band. Gotta think that was one of the more embarrassing moments of his career though...