Kelly Clarkson is celebrating a special anniversary!

On Thursday, Sept. 4, the 43-year-old singer commemorated the 23rd anniversary of her American Idol win with a sentimental Instagram post.

The “Breakaway” singer became the competition show’s first winner in 2002, and penned a tribute to the fans that helped her score the win.

“To everyone that took time 23 years ago to call in and vote for me, thank you 🙏,” she began in her caption on Thursday. “Winning American Idol changed my life and I will be forever grateful for all of you that have supported me for so many years.”

Clarkson added “It is a gift to find your purpose and passion, and to be able to make a living doing it is the cherry on top. Thank you, always.”

The official Instagram account for American Idol reposted her tribute to its Instagram Stories. “THIS is what it’s all about, ©kellyclarkson. You were an icon from the start. We will always love you,” read text over Clarkson’s original post.

Throughout the years, Clarkson has reflected on her American Idol win at length. At the 20th anniversary milestone in 2022, she said in an Instagram post that the triumph “forever changed the course of my life.”

In the years since she’s opened up more about the experience. In March, she appeared on Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast and revealed she didn’t know the competition was a TV series at first.

“For all of us in that first season, we literally didn’t … I didn’t even know it was a TV show until my third audition,” Clarkson said. “Like, we were literally trying to pay our bills. We’re like, ‘Oh, this might work. I might meet someone or whatever.’ Nobody knew it was gonna amount to anything.”

Clarkson recalled, “We were literally, like, kids — you know, 19 years old just trying to pay my electric bill y’all. You know, and afford the deductible on my car that was bashed in that I couldn’t afford. So it was a different thing.”

In the years since, Clarkson has gone on to release 10 studio albums and 56 singles, scoring 17 Grammy nominations and three wins.

She later served as a coach on The Voice for seasons 14 through 21, before returning for season 23. She’s also slated to return for the show’s forthcoming 29th season. Along with her appearance on The Voice, this fall she is hosting Songs & Stories with Kelly Clarkson and her popular daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show.

However, Clarkson took a brief hiatus from The Kelly Clarkson Show after her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock died of complications from melanoma on Thursday, Aug. 7.

She revealed his illness on Wednesday, Aug. 6 when she announced she was postponing the August dates of her Las Vegas residency to be “fully present” for their children River, 11, and Remington, 9.