“Piece By Piece” is one of Kelly Clarkson’s most popular songs, but many fans are not aware of the emotional story behind it.

Kelly wrote the song after she gave birth to her first child, River Rose. When Kelly was a child, her father was absent much of the time, which left her with deep emotional scars. When Kelly saw how lovingly her husband, music manager Brandon Blackstock, parented their daughter, she was inspired to write this song.

“Watching my husband love on his daughter all the time, you know, go to her events and just be there and, like, be present is, like, hard to watch but beautiful to watch,” Kelly said. “I know that my kids are going to have that.”

The song is filled with loving lines about how Brandon showed Kelly what it means to be a great dad.

The video below this story shows Kelly performing “Piece By Piece” on the last night of her Meaning of Life Tour at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Kelly had no idea that her husband had a huge surprise in store for her that he intended to give her right in the middle of her performance.

As Kelly performed the song, Brandon suddenly appeared onstage strumming a guitar. Though the crowd had an immediate reaction to him, Kelly did not realize that he’s behind her right away. When she finally sees him, Kelly becomes overcome with emotion before laughingly telling the crowd, “That’s my husband!”

Kelly manages to get it together enough to continue the song, which includes lyrics like:

“He never walks away
He never asks for money
He takes care of me
He loves me
Piece by piece, he restores my faith
That a man can be kind and the father could, stay.”

As Kelly reaches the end of the song, her voice breaks and she gives her husband a hug and a kiss. We can’t imagine that there was a dry eye in the house by the time she finished this song!

Check out Kelly’s performance in the video below!