"hello" was written by kelly clarkson josh abraham, oliver goldstein, and bonnie mckee, with abraham and goldstein (as ollgee) handling the song's production. during the summer of 2011, clarkson and mckee had collaborated on tracks such as "hello" and "alone", intending it to be recorded for clarkson's fifth studio album, "stronger", which was released on october of that same year. an acoustic version of the "hello" was included as the opening track of her first extended play, "the smoakstack sessions" (2011).