KELLY Clarkson’s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock has died at just 48 years old after a three-year battle with cancer.
The heart-wrenching news came one day after the singer revealed he was ill and abruptly canceled shows to be with their two children.
On Thursday, Starstruck Entertainment, which is the agency where Blackstock worked, confirmed that he had died.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away,” they wrote in the statement first published by People.
“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.”
Blackstock’s father, famous music manager Narvel, was once married to country singer and The Voice coach Reba McEntire before their split in 2015. (Blackstock and Clarkson both remained close to McEntire even after the divorce.)
Clarkson postponed her residency in Los Angeles on Wednesday to spend time with her and Blackstock’s children River, 11, and Remington, 9.
She said, “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.”
Clarkson and Blackstock were married in 2013, but finalized their divorce in 2022 after a messy, years-long split.
They settled tit for tat lawsuits over the years until finally withdrawing their legal filings in 2024 and putting the war to rest.
In March, Clarkson took a sudden weeks-long leave from hosting her daytime talk show, and sources told The U.S. Sun at the time that she was dealing with a “family issue.”
Kelly Clarkson cancels Las Vegas residency and reveals heartbreaking reason why with emotional statement
Now, other insiders have said that she was helping to take care of Blackstock in what would be his final months, Page Six reported.
One insider described the situation as “exhausting and so sad” and said, “Kelly has been working so hard, as well as looking after Brandon.
“Despite their difficult divorce, he’s still the man she loved and still her kids’ father.”
Starstruck Entertainment’s statement on Blackstock’s death
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away.
“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.”
LOVE STORY
Clarkson first met Blackstock at an event in 2006, when his father was her manager.
Blackstock was still married to his ex-wife, with whom he shares two children, when he met Clarkson, but they started dating after the couple split.
In 2013, the two got married, and Blackstock, who had worked with Blake Shelton, became Clarkson’s manager.
Clarkson gushed about her husband in their first years of marriage.
In 2015, she released the single Piece by Piece, which was about how Blackstock provided the love and stability that Clarkson never received from her father
In a 2017 interview with SiriusXM, the singer described her husband as the first person she felt sincerely “sexually attracted” to.
“And I’m not downing my exes. You know, everybody’s different, but there was something about him,” she said at the time.
BITTER SPLIT
The couple ultimately filed for divorce in 2020 for irreconcilable differences, and went on to have a years long legal battle.
One brawl was over their Montana ranch, where Blacksone lived and ran a rodeo with Clarkson’s former assistant.
Clarkson won the property, but lost a legal battle that would have evicted her ex from the home.
In March 2022, their divorce was finalized, and the singer had to pay Blackstock a one-time settlement of $1.3 million plus monthly spousal and child support payments.
The spousal payments were reportedly an eyewatering $115,000 a month.
In 2023, Blackstock had to pay her over $2.6 million after losing a lawsuit that alleged he mishandled her money while working as her manager.
The bitter couple were engaged in other legal battles for years, but finally withdrew the suits in May 2024.
Clarkson publicly mourned their divorce and said that she had hoped they could have split on better terms.
Speaking to SiriusXM, she said, “I think the thing about divorce, especially having it publicized, and people thinking they know the whole thing, the hardest part of that is, like, it wasn’t an overnight decision.
“I wanted to make it beautiful. I wanted to make it awesome. I wanted to make it everything it possibly could be, and sometimes that just doesn’t happen.”
