Kelly Clarkson Reveals the Song She Wrote the Fastest — So Fast That She Ordered Sushi and Wrote It Before Food Arrived

One person waited a lifetime to ask Kelly Clarkson which song from her storied 23-year career as a recording artist she’s written the fastest.

In an “Ask Kelly Anything” video published on June 12 on The Kelly Clarkson Show’s YouTube channel, someone asked the daytime talk show host, 43, which song took her the shortest amount of time to write.

“A Christmas song. It was ‘Underneath the Tree.’ I was working with Greg Kurstin in the studio,” Clarkson said of the music producer who helped her make her 2012 hit “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” and other hits. 

“I ordered sushi and when it arrived I had written it,” the three-time Grammy winner continued. “I think because I really love Christmas I write them really quickly for Christmas — because they feel good, because you can be a little cheesy, you know? You don’t have to worry about being cool, which honestly that’s not a concern generally ever because I’m not.” 

“Underneath the Tree” was a huge hit for Clarkson, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard’ Hot 100 singles chart. It topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, holding the pinnacle position for four weeks.

Elaborating on how the holiday hit came to be, Clarkson said on her show that Kurstin, 56, “sent me home with a little piano thing and we kind of started, not the idea of it, but just kind of the wall of sound for Christmas.”

She added that “it’s a really cool sound at Christmas. It feels nostalgic.”

“They don’t all come out like that, though; usually it takes forever,” Clarkson admitted of her songwriting process. “But that one was quick.”

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“Underneath the Tree” — from Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red album — also topped the most recent list of Top 10 ASCAP New Classic Holiday Songs published by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). And in an all-time list of Top 25 ASCAP Holiday Songs, Clarkson and Kurstin’s holiday song slid into the rankings at No. 24.