Kelly Clarkson on Her Daughter River: Motherhood Has Changed My World

Kelly Clarkson on Her Daughter River: Motherhood Has Changed My World, Kelly Clarkson never thought her life would look like this. Within a year, she became a wife and a mother of three and couldn’t be happier about it.

“My whole life took a big 180,” the singer — who releases Piece by Piece, her first non-holiday album since 2011, on March 3 – tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “I never thought I was going to be a mom, so it’s very much changed my world in the most awesome way.”

These days, her life with husband Brandon Blackstock, 38, their daughter River Rose, 8 months, and her stepkids Savannah, 13, and Seth, 8, is a blissful, chaotic mix of homework, diapers, and date nights. And while she still makes time for the globetrotting duties of a pop star, her perspective has shifted.

“I love what I do, but I feel like I relied on my career a lot for my self-worth. And now I’m more than that,” says Clarkson, 32, during the revealing interview at her Nashville-area home. “I’m a mother and a wife and have this whole other thing going on.”More Read