<\/p>\n
Brandon Blackstock, a talent manager and Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband, has died; he was 48<\/p>\n
Blackstock was dad to four children: Savannah, Seth, River and Remington<\/p>\n
Before his death, Clarkson revealed in an Aug. 6 Instagram post that “this past year, my children\u2019s father has been ill,” adding that she would be taking time to focus on River and Remington<\/p>\n
Brandon Blackstock, a talent manager known as both the ex-husband of Kelly Clarkson and the former stepson of Reba McEntire, has died. He was 48.
\n“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away,” a rep for the family tells PEOPLE in a statement. “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.”
\nOn Wednesday, Aug. 6, Clarkson revealed Blackstock had been ill, and she postponed her Las Vegas residency to spend time with their children, River, 11, and Remington, 9.
\n“While I normally keep my personal life private, this past year, my children\u2019s father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them,” she wrote in a statement, apologizing to fans and expressing appreciation for their “grace, kindness and understanding.”
\nBlackstock also had two children from a previous marriage, Savannah and Seth, and became a grandfather in 2022 when his eldest child Savannah gave birth to a son, Lake.
\nIn March 2024, Blackstock posed with River and Remington in photos at the Houston Rodeo, where the family enjoyed an outing with Blackstock\u2019s brother Shelby and Shelby\u2019s mother, Reba McEntire. McEntire was previously married to Blackstock\u2019s father, Narvel Blackstock, from 1989 to 2015.
\nNarvel Blackstock previously served as Clarkson\u2019s manager, and the singer and her future husband first met at a rehearsal for the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2006, when Blackstock was still married to ex-wife Melissa Ashworth.
\n“This guy walks by, making everybody laugh. I said, ‘I’m gonna end up with him. I know it,’ ” Clarkson told PEOPLE in 2013.
\nSeveral years later, they reconnected at the Super Bowl. They were married in October 2013, and her deeply personal 2015 song \u201cPiece By Piece\u201d was inspired by Blackstock and the stability she felt in their relationship, compared to the abandonment she felt from her father as a child.
\nAfter their wedding, Blackstock \u2014 who was also Blake Shelton\u2019s manager \u2014 became Clarkson\u2019s manager, too.
\nKelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock’s Relationship Timeline
\nEverything Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock Have Said About Their Relationship
\n\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have hired Brandon to be my manager if I didn\u2019t see first-hand how great he is at that and how much he cares about Blake,\u201d the star told Marie Claire in 2018. \u201cAnd the way that [Blake\u2019s] career has blown up, I would have hired Brandon regardless. He\u2019s really talented at what he does and his mind really does work in a completely different way.\u201d
\nClarkson ultimately filed for divorce from Blackstock in 2020; they finalized the divorce in 2022.
\n“I think the thing about divorce \u2014 especially having it publicized, and people thinking they know the whole thing \u2014 the hardest part of that is, like, it wasn’t an overnight decision,” Clarkson later said of the split in 2023. \u201cI 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\u2019t happen.\u201d
\nBlackstock is survived by his sons Seth and Remington, daughters Savannah and River, grandson Lake, father Narvel Blackstock, mom Elisa Gayle Ritter and siblings Shelby, Shawna and Chassidy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brandon Blackstock, a talent manager and Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband, has died; he was 48 Blackstock was dad to four children: Savannah, Seth, River and Remington Before his death, Clarkson … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33564,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33515\/revisions\/33564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}