In June of last year, Kelly Clarkson shocked her fans by revealing that she had filed for divorce from her husband of seven years, Brandon Blackstock. Now, after admitting that her divorce process has been “horrible,” the singer and talk show host revealed that she has written 60 songs since filing.

“I have this record that we’re working on. It’s really great and really honest,” Clarkson told Entertainment Tonight. “There’s just a lot of questions that I have to answer before releasing it for myself, you know? Whether that be business-wise or personally or whatever. Whatever happens though, it is such a gift. Like, I don’t know how anybody, I’ll just be real with you, goes through grief like divorce, any kind of grief, any kind of loss, without having an outlet like this.”

“I have written like 60 songs, it is an insane amount of getting it out. I think that’s a blessing in itself,” she added. “Anytime you go through some life, it’s such an awesome thing to have that outlet, regardless of whether people hear it or not.”

Clarkson went on to say that whenever she writes something so personal, she has to ask herself, “What are you willing to put out there?”

“I hate that I had to go through ‘Because of You’ or ‘Piece by Piece’ [moments]. Certain songs that I’ve written certainly have shaped me, but have been really hard,” she explained. “They’re just difficult decisions to put those out because they’re so personal. But the other side of you is like, ‘Man, how many people have come up to me.’ Like, ‘You have no idea. I never wanted to talk about it, I never have told anyone this.'”

“Music has that way, even for me,” she continued. “I listen to other artists and music has a way of healing you.”

Clarkson also said that the music of her fellow “The Voice” coach John Legend has helped her handle her divorce.

“I literally was going through the worst moments of my emotional life. And his record, it’s not like a Joni Mitchell [album], or Jagged Little Pill, it’s the complete opposite of that. It’s all about that kind of love that you find, that kind of connection you find, and it was so helpful for me,” she said. “Just separately — as a fan, not friend — just to be in a place where you’re hopeless and then to have a record like that, that’s what i’m saying. Like him deciding to put all these songs out that might be personal, or essentially with he and [wife] Chrissy Teigen.”

“It’s a really important thing that we remember we are a really important vessel for a lot of messages that people need to hear,” Clarkson continued. “Because me hearing that during this time was like, ‘OK, it’s not hopeless. It’s not over.’ It was a very therapeutic record for me, which is so interesting, because I was feeling none of those emotions while listening to it. But the hope that’s there is such a beautiful thing.”

This comes after Clarkson admitted that her divorce has been “horrible” for her.

“I’m going through one right now. It’s horrible,” she said of her divorce. “There are so many hard parts. The hardest for me is the kids. That’s the hardest for me. I think, as women especially, we’re trained… to take it all on, and you can deal with it, and you’re fine, but it’s your babies that you worry about.”

Clarkson and Blackstock share two young children together.