Kelly Clarkson Refuses To Follow Pop-Star 'Rules'

Things couldn't be better for Kelly Clarkson, both on a personal and professional level. The pop star has found love and over the past year and success with her latest album, Stronger. And 10 years after taking the crown as the first-ever American Idol, Clarkson doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon.

Kelly is currently in the debut season of ABC's singing competition, "Duets" and in her free time she's hitting the road on a co-headlining tour with the Fray.

No doubt when she hits the stage this summer, Clarkson will be singing her girl-power anthem "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You"). The single became her third #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and if she can score another 50,000 in sales of the song, she'll have the best-selling single from an "American Idol" star, beating out Carrie Underwood, who holds the title with "Before He Cheats."

With all she has going on, Clarkson seems the perfect choice to grace the cover of Lucky magazine's first-ever music issue, due out next week. In the August issue, Kelly says that even with all her chart success, she still doesn't consider herself a "pop star" in the conventional sense, explaining that she's just trying to be herself — which can be a challenge in the music industry.

"The hardest thing about being in this business is just being able to be yourself," Clarkson admits. "People act like there's this one set of rules to follow to be a pop star and I think, 'Well, you say I'm a pop star, so maybe that's not true.' "

Although she is in fact a pop superstar, Kelly thinks she lives the life of a "country singer," including her decision to reside in Nashville. Clarkson tells the magazine she really is just a "normal girl" with a pretty laid-back sense of style.

"I put on the Hank Williams and the Patsy Cline and the Rosemary Clooney on vinyl — I'm not trying to be some cool indie-rock person, I just love the way it sounds — and throw on a T-shirt and jeans," Clarkson says. "In Texas, we practically come out of the womb in jeans."

Clarkson also touches on her new boyfriend and all those pesky rumors. "Oh, there's all these rumors that I'm a lesbian," Kelly laughs. "I have a boyfriend now, Brandon Blackstock; my manager Narvel's son, Reba McEntire's stepson."

The Lucky magazine music issue hits newsstands July 10.