Everything We Know About Kelly Clarkson's Late Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock

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3 days ago

The news of Blackstock's death came just one day after Clarkson revealed her ex-husband -- with whom she shared two children -- was battling an illness.
Kelly Clarkson's ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, has passed away -- just one day after she announced that she was postponing her Las Vegas residency due to the talent manager's undisclosed illness.
On Thursday, a rep for the Blackstock family announced that he died following a private battle with cancer in a statement to People. He was 48.
"It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away," the statement read. "Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and ask everyone to respect the family's privacy during this very difficult time."
The news came after Clarkson -- who shared daughter River, 11, and son Remington, 9, with Blackstock -- shared a statement on Instagram, in which she said she was postponing the August dates of her residency to be there for her children because Blackstock was ill.
"Unfortunately, I need to postpone the remainder of the August Studio Session dates in Las Vegas," the Grammy winner shared on Instagram on August 6. While I normally keep my personal life private, this past year, my children's father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them."
"I am sincerely sorry to everyone who bought tickets to the shows and I so appreciate your grace, kindness and understanding," she added.
Who Is Brandon Blackstock?
Clarkson and Blackstock, a talent manager and producer, began dating in February 2012, first meeting years earlier at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2006 after they were introduced by the latter's father, Narvel, who was Clarkson's manager at the time.
The pair became engaged the following December, and tied the knot in October 2013. The wedding marked Blackstock's second marriage. He was previously married to Melissa Ashworth from 2001 to 2012, and welcomed two children: Savannah and Seth.
Following Clarkson and Blackstock's marriage, the former became a daughter-in-law to Reba McEntire, who was Blackstock's former stepmother. The country icon was married to Narvel Blackstock from 1989 until 2015. In the years since her divorce, McEntire has remained close with the Blackstocks and Clarkson, who was friends with McEntire even before she met Blackstock.
Meanwhile, Blackstock and Clarkson went on to welcome two children together: River and Remington, who were born in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Blackstock also became Clarkson's manager during their marriage, and was an executive producer on her daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show. Among his other clients was Clarkson's The Voice co-host, Blake Shelton.
However, after seven years of marriage, the couple called it quits in June 2020, with Clarkson filing for divorce. The separation sparked a tumultuous legal battle before both their divorce and custody arrangement. Clarkson and Blackstock's divorce was finalized in 2022.
In 2023, Clarkson was awarded $2.6 million from Blackstock for overstepping his role as her manager in securing her work, including The Voice.
What Kelly Publicly Said About Her Divorce
While Clarkson kept her personal live rather private, she did address and reflect on her divorce multiple times over the years.
During an interview with Today in September 2020, the American Idol alum spoke out about her divorce filing.
"I mean, it's no secret. My life has been a little bit of a dumpster…personally, it's been a little hard the last couple months," Clarkson said at the time, per Just Jared. "I've been talking to friends that have been through divorce. I don't know how people go through that without having some kind of outlet because it is the worst thing ever for everyone involved."
Later that month, she opened up about the split on the Season 2 premiere of The Kelly Clarkson Show, addressing her divorce with her virtual audience.
"What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart, it involves a lot of little hearts," she shared. "I'm usually very open and I usually talk about everything, but in this case I will talk a little bit here and there about it affects me personally, but probably won't go too far into it because, you know, I'm a Mama Bear and my kids come first."
"I probably won't speak about it too much, but you will definitely will hear it musically, probably," she went on to add. "That's how I became a songwriter. Music's always been my outlet to help me get through difficult times."
The following December, the "Since U Been Gone" singer shared how music was there for her amid her divorce, telling guest Garth Brooks on an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show that one of his songs helped her figure out her own emotions at the time.
"So I'm going through a divorce and there's been like a lot of books and people always give you stuff to like help, especially when you have kids and stuff," explained Clarkson. "And I know you've been divorced as well. It's like, man, there's so much shame and guilt, and everybody sends you stuff, and I was just kind of working through it."
"I couldn't quite nail down the feeling, I was like, you don't want to crap on it, you don't want to say that didn't count or matter, but you don't know what to put in it because it didn't work out how you wanted," she continued. "I kid you not, I was listening to my playlist and 'The Dance' came on and I was like, that's the thing."
A few years later, Clarkson reflected on her divorce during an appearance on the Angie Martinez IRL podcast in March 2023.
The "Because of You" singer said she was "on the floor crying" over the "loss" of her marriage at the time of her split.
"It's like a death honestly…you grieve something you thought was forever," she said.
Clarkson -- who was promoting her album Chemistry at the time -- continued, "I was trying to find a word – it might be one of the songs on the album -- that really described the whole thing. I didn't want everybody to think I was just coming out with some 'I'm angry' or 'I'm sad,' just those two emotions. This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship."
In January 2024, the "Breakaway" songstress described her divorce as "extraordinarily hard" during an interview with People.
"You feel alone, and it's just a blessing to be able to have that outlet for those emotions that are overwhelming," she said.
Blackstock is survived by his four children, his grandson Lake, his father Narvel Blackstock, and his three siblings: Shelby, Shawna, and Chassidy.
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