Breakaway is the second studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released on November 30, 2004, in Canada and in the United States, by RCA Records, with a wider release following throughout 2005. Despite the commercial success of Clarkson's debut album Thankful (2003), music critics still continued to typecast her as an American Idol winner and were also critical of her attempts of establishing a commercial appeal on her own. Wanting to stray from those, she collaborated with a range of new songwriters and producers such as Dr. Luke, Max Martin, John Shanks, Kara DioGuardi, and with former Evanescence members Ben Moody and David Hodges. This overhaul also led her to part ways with her manager Simon Fuller and hire the management services of Jeff Kwatinetz before the album's release.

A sonic departure from the R&B-oriented Thankful, Breakaway is primarily a pop rock record with rock and soul elements, whose lyrics explore themes of heartbreak, love, and escapism. It received a positive response from music critics, with many commending the album's new-found pop rock sound and Clarkson's vocal performances. It won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, garnering many other nominations and awards.

Breakway became a commercial success worldwide; with estimated sales of 12 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. It topped the charts of Ireland and Netherlands and reached the top ten in a number of countries, being the seventh best-selling album of 2005. In the United States, it debuted and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, staying on the top twenty of the chart for over a year due to the continued success of its singles. It eventually was certified 6× multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of more than six million copies.

Breakaways singles "Since U Been Gone", "Behind These Hazel Eyes", "Because of You", "Walk Away", and "Breakaway" became worldwide hits and have become some of Clarkson's signature songs. Their successes prompted Billboard to credit her for landscaping the core sound of mainstream pop music as an uptempo dance-oriented sound in the 2000s. Furthermore, Breakaway established Clarkson as one of the four highest-selling acts of Sony BMG in the 2000s. To promote the album, Clarkson embarked on three international concert tours from 2005 to 2006: the Breakaway Tour, Hazel Eyes Tour, and the Addicted Tour. Billboard placed the album 77th in the Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums.

Background and production In early 2004, Clarkson began working on new material for her second studio album, which followed her successful debut album Thankful (2003), while co-headlining the Independent Tour with Clay Aiken, the runner-up from the second season of American Idol. She had also expressed intentions to record with Fantasia Barrino, who had then just won the series' third season; both were expected to release their albums in the same month.

As she began to work for the album with music executive Clive Davis, Clarkson was invited by Whitney Houston to record the song "Breakaway", which would be included for the soundtrack of the 2004 Walt Disney Pictures feature film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which Houston had co-produced. The song, written by Matthew Gerrard, Bridget Benenate, and Avril Lavigne, was initially written for Lavigne's debut album Let Go (2002) but deemed unsuitable for the album's themes at the time. Initially reluctant, Clarkson agreed to record the song. "Breakaway" was first released in July 2004 by Walt Disney Records as a single from the soundtrack, acting as an interim record until her second album's lead single was released. After debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 60, it peaked at number six, a week before the album's release.

In April 2004, Clarkson entered the studio immediately after the Independent Tour. She said in an interview, "I've written most of (the songs) so far, but there's some people who have some stuff for me. I'm not one of those people who thinks you have to write everything. (I'll sing it) as long as I can relate to it." During the album's development, Davis revealed that he was reluctant to let Clarkson write material for the album. He mentioned "I always encourage people to write their own songs, but in the pop arena, where the career is totally dependent on hits, you get skeptical. Artists with great voices like Melissa Manchester and Taylor Dayne could have had much longer careers if they didn't insist on writing their own material."

Clarkson reiterated that she had been writing songs since her teens, but rather than argue over labels or abilities, the two reached a détente—she would co-write half the album, with the other half being penned by other songwriters and producers. She said, "I just think it's funny that all these middle-age guys told me, 'You don't know how a pop song needs to sound.' I'm a 23-year-old girl! But I was fighting those battles alone." In February 2004, Clarkson met with musicians Ben Moody and David Hodges, who had just departed from their band Evanescence in late 2003. She said, "I didn't know that he (Moody) wasn't with Evanescence anymore," Clarkson said. "I just really liked their vibe and I thought it might be cool to work with one of them. So I just randomly asked people I work with, 'Hey, do you think that he'd work with me?' And then I found out that he kind of split and that's what he's doing ... so it worked out perfectly." Moody recalled, "It's cool because she wants to do some branching out, and I'm doing nothing but branching out, we got together and she had all these songs in mind of what she wanted to do. It's just a really, really cool process for me, because everybody is a new experience. Everybody works differently."

Worried of Clarkson being continually typecast as a talent show winner, Davis met with various producers, primarily Max Martin, and encouraged them to produce records for Clarkson in a pop rock direction. Clarkson revealed that she expected that she'll always be labeled as an American Idol winner; she remarked, "I'm the first one, so it's going to be on my grave, I'm aware of that. (There's no getting away from it) so why even try?" Upon their meeting, Martin presented songs he wrote with Dr. Luke. These songs include "Since U Been Gone" and a demo version of what would have been "Behind These Hazel Eyes". Davis wanted Clarkson to record the songs, describing them having "a sharp rock edge but were still capable of being pop hits. They would push Kelly in a promising direction for her, while maintaining and even growing her audience." Martin insisted that the songs should be given to rock acts, wanting to stray from his reputation for producing pop singles for the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears in the 1990s. Davis recalled, "Max was looking to move on from what he had done with Backstreet Boys, and I really spent time convincing them that an American Idol winner could bring all the feeling and passion that was required to the song."

Martin and Dr. Luke eventually agreed and invited Clarkson to travel to Sweden to record the songs. Upon hearing the tracks, Clarkson was skeptical of the pop elements. The three eventually decided to develop a rock sound, a move Clarkson claimed Davis did not approve. Davis reiterated that he was ecstatic with the prospect, claiming that she disliked it and demanded that both the songs be removed from the album. Clarkson then asserted that she wanted it to be on the record and claimed that Davis had detested "Because of You" instead, saying that she "was a shitty writer (sic) who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon her". Davis reiterated that he loved the song and felt that Clarkson could indeed write hits.

Music and lyrics

Wanting to stray away from the R&B-styled music of Thankful, which she described as a showcase of versatility, she revealed that Thankfuls success "empowered me to step more into rock, step more into the soulful vibe." She described the music of the second album as "like the first CD in the sense that it's versatile, but it's more into the rock, It's more into the soulful roots, and it's just a little bit deeper, so it's pretty cool." Dr. Luke revealed in an interview that alternative music and indie music were inspirations to "Since U Been Gone", saying, "That was a conscious move by Max [Martin] and myself, because we were listening to alternative and indie music and talking about some song-I don't remember what it was. I said, 'Ah, I love this song,' and Max was like, 'If they would just write a damn pop chorus on it!' It was driving him nuts, because that indie song was sort of on six, going to seven, going to eight, the chorus comes ... and it goes back down to five. It drove him crazy. And when he said that, it was like, light bulb. 'Why don't we do that, but put a big chorus on it?' It worked." Songs such as "Behind These Hazel Eyes", and "Because of You" were also inspired by her real life experiences, the former about her relationship with an ex-boyfriend and the latter about her experience after her parents' divorce.

Clarkson shares writing credits on six songs from Breakaway. "Breakaway" was included as the album's opening and title track. She described it as a simple song, and further explained, "I think that its simplicity is what's beautiful about it. Whenever writers or producers come to work with me, they take advantage of the fact that I can really belt it out. What's cool about 'Breakaway' is that it doesn't take advantage of that. The song just uses the simplicity of my voice. I've done country music, I've done pop, I've done gospel... all of my singles have sounded different. But this song was different from everything I've done; people didn't even know it was me!" Written by Max Martin and Dr. Luke, Clarkson described the second track "Since U Been Gone", as "not as "smooth" as pop or R&B. Clarkson said of the track, the last to be recorded for the album, "It's very emotional. Vocally, it can be a lot more challenging, but is very fun to play live." Written by Clarkson, Dr. Luke, and Martin, the third track, "Behind These Hazel Eyes", was the last song she had co-written for the album. She recalled, "I wrote 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' about my last boyfriend. It's the last song I wrote for the album, I almost didn't make the deadline." The fourth track, "Because of You", was originally intended for Thankful. Clarkson wrote a draft of the song after a late night talk with a friend who had hard time with her family, with Moody and Hodges providing additional writing. "Gone", the fifth track, was written by Kara DioGuardi and John Shanks. Clarkson admits she cannot relate thoroughly to the song, but felt that it should be heard nonetheless. The sixth track, "Addicted", was written by Clarkson, Ben Moody, and David Hodges. Clarkson revealed that the song was inspired by the songs featured on Evanescence's debut album Fallen (2003). She remarked, "I wanted to work with someone as passionate about music as I am. And then I heard that Evanescence record ... I loved their record because of the passion behind it.