Kelly Clarkson, the very first "American Idol," turns 27 today, April 24. The singer won the title of "American Idol" during its first season, back in 2002.

She recently released her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted, March 10, 2009, and is enjoying the success of its first t2o singles, "My Life Would Suck Without You" (released January 13, 2009), and "I Do Not Hook Up" (released April 14, 2009).

Happy Birthday, Kelly!

Other celebs celebrating their birthday today include:

Actress Shirley MacLaine (75)
Singer-actress extraordinaire Barbra Streisand (67)
Oak Ridge Boys singer Richard Sterban (66)
Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford (64)
The Hooters singer-keyboardist Rob Hyman (59)
Actor Eric Bogosian (56)
Actor Michael O'Keefe (54)
Bassist David J (52)
Actor Glenn Morshower (50)
Faith No More bassist Billy Gould (46)
Comedian-actor Cedric the Entertainer (45)
Actor Djimon Hounsou (45)
Hole drummer Patty Schemel (42)
Spin Doctors drummer Aaron Comess (41)
Actress Melinda Clarke (40)
Actor Eric Balfour (32)
All-American Rejects singer-bassist Tyson Ritter (25)

Kal Penn, the young actor whose character Dr. Lawrence Kutner on "House, M.D." was recently the focus of a surprising death on the show, turned 32 today, April 23.

Penn, who was previously seen in the Harold and Kumar movies, shocked fans with his character's unsuspected suicide, recently left the show because he was offered (and accepted) a job with the White House as the new associate director of the Office of Public Liaison. Though acting is one of his life loves, this career change allows Penn the opportunity to pursue his other love: public service.

We wish Kal Penn a very happy birthday, and success in his new career.

Other celebrities who share the same birthday include:

Actor David Birney (70)
"The Six Million Dollar Man" actor Lee Majors (70)
Actress Blair Brown (61)
"Three's Company" actress Joyce DeWitt (60)
Actor James Russo (56)
Director Michael Moore (55)
Actress Judy Davis (54)
Actress Jan Hooks (52)
Actress Valerie Bertinelli (49)
Comedian George Lopez (48)
Drummer Gen (of Jesus Jones) (45)
Actress Melina Kanakaredes (42)
Sugar Ray drummer Stan Frazier (41)
Sons of the Desert guitarist Tim Womack (41)
Actor Scott Bairstow (39)
Actor Kal Penn (32)
"Slumdog Millionaire" actor Dev Patel (19)
"Zoey 101" actor Matthew Underwood (19)

About Celebrity Birthday Blog:
After writing on the topic of celebrity birthdays and celebrations for a few blog networks (including b5media) over the last few years, I thought it was about time I start my own blog on the subject.

Bio:
Julia is the owner of Temlyn Writing: freelance writing, editing, & community moderating/managing services, where she works diligently with clients to rescue excess apostrophes, save spliced commas, and repair injured & abused words, as well as bring healing through writing. She also offers online community managing, moderating, & building services.

In addition to being the editor of Musical Reviewer (formerly All About Musicals), she is also editor of Houston Theatre Blog and editor-in-chief of Writers Remember, and administrator of the Houston Writers & Editors Network. She also blogs occasionally at Mrs. Write Right, Word Therapist.

A native of New York and Central Florida, Julia currently resides outside SW Houston, Texas, with her incredible tech-geek husband and their two goofy cats. She loves going to the theatre to see the latest musicals in town; she also enjoys singing (in choir and at home with a hairbrush), geocaching, sipping tea, watching a good movie, and spending time with her husband and family & friends.

She can be found on Twitter at JuliaTemlyn and MusicalReviewer.