KELLY Clarkson’s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock has died at just 48 years old after a three-year battle with cancer.
The heartwrenching news came one day after the singer revealed he was ill and abruptly canceled shows to be with their two children.
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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.”
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 first met Blackstock at an event in 2006, when his father Narvel Blackstock was her manager.
Narvel was married to Reba McEntire from 1989 to 2005, making Blackstock her former stepson.
Blackstock was still married to his ex-wife, with whom he shares two children, when he met Clarkson, but they stayed in touch and started dating after they split.
In 2013, the two got married, and Blackstock, who had worked with Blake Shelton, became Clarkson’s manager.
He inspired her 2015 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, Clarkson described her husband as the first person she felt “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.
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BITTER SPLIT
The couple ultimately filed for divorce in 2020 for irreconcilable differences, and went on to have a bitter years long legal battle.
The proceedings were messy as they fought over their Montana ranch, where Blackstock lived with their children.
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.
But then in 2023, Blackstock had to pay her over $2.6 million after losing a lawsuit that alleged her overstepped his legal limits while working as her manager.
The bitter couple were engaged in other legal battles for years, but finally withdrew the suits in May 2024.
“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,” Clarkson said of the split.
“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.”
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