Kane Brown told the heartfelt story behind a meaningful moment he shared with a young concertgoer while catching up with Kelly Clarkson on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Tuesday (February 11).

Brown said it was “very sad,” but very special. He explained that at the time, he was wearing sunglasses on stage and couldn’t fully read the fan’s homemade sign in that moment. But the “Miles On It” artist embraced the fan in a hug and saw the fan’s message in a photo later.

“I don’t know why I did this, and I’m not gonna do it anymore for my fans in the future,” Brown said on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “I got this weird kick of wearing sunglasses on stage, but they were the Meta sunglasses so I could record everything. So it was really cool. I got really cool videos. But I’m walking and I can’t see anything. And I just feel this little person beside me, so I take a picture real quick and then I keep walking. After the show, everybody was like, ‘that was so sweet.’ And I was like, ‘what was sweet?’ And I ended up reading the sign, and it was just saying that he got picked on in school. …So I didn’t get to read the whole sign…until I got home and saw the picture, so I felt bad that I didn’t sit there and talk to him. It was sweet, and I hope he remembers that. And I love him, if he’s watching this.”

The concertgoer’s sign read: “bullied for the color of my skin. I just want a hug from Kane.” Photos of the fan with Brown appeared on a screen behind Brown and Clarkson on the talk show. Clarkson said “it’s a beautiful thing,” and asked Brown, “did you experience that when you were younger?”

“This sounds weird, and a lot of people don’t understand what I’m talking about, but my dad’s been in prison since ’96, and he’s still there. And so, I grew up with my whole white side of the family,” Brown shared. “And so my dad was never talked about or nothing. I mean, everybody on my side of the family was white. I never knew anything about color. My Black friends, I remember, I just thought you hung out in the sun longer than I did. I had no idea. there was times during the winter, got really light, and then when I was playing baseball, I got dark as hell. So, that’s how I thought it worked, and it took my little brother to tell me. ‘Cause his dad was in the picture. So, I was like, ‘OK, his dad’s my dad.’ But I didn’t know, so then I found out that I was biracial. And then some kids ended up — I started learning different words that don’t mean the nicest things, and yeah, finding out what that meant.”

Clarkson said “that’s horrible that that happened, but kinda cool that it happened to a person that has such a huge spotlight now to show these little…so that little kid can look at you and be like, ‘whatever. he’s like me.’ That’s really powerful.”

Throughout the conversation, Brown also spoke about balancing his career with family life (he and his wife, Katelyn Brown, are parents to three young children: Kingsley Rose, 5, Kodi Jane, 3, and Krewe Allen, who was born in June 2024). He also spoke about his fourth studio record, The High Road, which released last month. The 18-track album includes “Fiddle In The Band,” “Backseat Driver,” “Haunted” with Jelly Roll, “Body Talk” with Katelyn and more. Next month, Brown will kick off his headlining “The High Road Tour” with Mitchell Tenpenny, Scotty McCreery, Ashley Cooke and Dasha joining on select stops. Find the list of tour dates here.

Brown is one of many country stars nominated at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards. This year’s show will also pay tribute to the resiliency and rebuilding of Los Angeles following the devastating wildfires affecting the entire community and will drive donations to Fireaidla.org. Contributions made to FireAid will be distributed under the advisement of the Annenberg Foundation, for short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters. The Annenberg Foundation, with decades of philanthropic leadership in the community, including rapid response, will help coordinate a team to direct funds for the greatest impact.

Once again, iHeartRadio is giving fans the opportunity to decide winners in several new and established categories. Fan voting will determine this year’s Favorite Soundtrack, Favorite Broadway Debut, Favorite K-pop Dance Challenge, Favorite Surprise Guest, Favorite Tour Tradition, Best Lyrics, Best Music Video, Favorite Tour Style, Favorite Tour Photographer and Favorite On Screen. Social voting begins January 22, and will close on March 10 at 11:59pm PT for all categories. Fans can vote by visiting iHeartRadio.com/awards.

Fans can tune in to the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday, March 17 on FOX from 8:00-10:00pm ET live/PT tape-delayed. The show will also be broadcast on iHeartRadio stations nationwide and on the free iHeartRadio app.

See the list of nominees here, and find more info about how to vote here.

Beth Bradley