Originally appeared on E! Online.
During their seven-year marriage, piece by piece, Brandon Blackstock gave Kelly Clarkson the stability she craved as a kid.
And though they ultimately split in 2020 — finalizing their divorce two years later — the couple remained dedicated to coparenting their kids River Rose, 11, and Remington “Remy” Alexander, 9, up until the talent manager’s death.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away,” a rep for his family, who also include kids Savannah and Seth from his first marriage, told NBC News Aug. 7. “Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family.”
News of the 48-year-old’s death came less than 24 hours after Clarkson postponed the rest of her August Las Vegas residency shows.
“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,” the singer wrote on Instagram Aug. 6. “I am sincerely sorry to everyone who bought tickets to the shows and I so appreciate your grace, kindness and understanding.”
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It was a rare opening of the door to her private world, which she prides herself on keeping shut. And for good reason.
“It’s not hard for me to be vulnerable as a person,” Clarkson explained to E! News last September. “But when it involves other people’s lives, that’s when it’s hard. You have to navigate that line of ‘Wait, is that OK?’ or ‘Can I talk about my kid with this?'”
“Like in my heartbreak,” she continued, “there’s certain things I’ll talk about and certain things I won’t. It’s not that I’m not comfortable talking about it. It’s just I don’t if other people are involved. It’s [about] how to toe that line.”
It’s a similar approach to the one Clarkson took after filing for divorce in June 2020, refraining from going into details about their split.
“There’s a lot of hearts involved here,” she told Entertainment Tonight that October, later adding. “I am an open book, but at some point I’m a mama bear more than I am a person in the public eye. So, I care 100 percent more about my children than I do anything else on this planet.”
When it comes down to it, they both needed to break away.
Brandon Blackstock, Kelly Clarkson’s former husband and the father of her two children, died at age 48 after a three-year battle with cancer, his family said Thursday.
“I’ve known love is not forever, and I don’t mean that to sound depressing, but I also think there’s a lot of pressure we put on that word,” Clarkson told People in 2024. “And sometimes, love is looking at someone and going, ‘This is not good. This is not good for you. This is not good for me.'”
And the pair have been honest with their kids about all life’s ups and downs. “I literally ask my kids every night when we’re snuggling, ‘Are you happy? And if you’re not, what could make you happier?'” Clarkson explained during a March 2024 episode of “The Angie Martinez IRL” podcast. “Sometimes they’ll say, especially the past two years, and it kills me and I want them to be honest, so I don’t ever say, ‘Oh god, don’t tell me that,’ but a lot of times it would be like, ‘You know, I’m just really sad. I wish mommy and daddy were in the same house.'”
“They’re really honest about it,” she continued. “I’m raising that kind of individual. I want you to be honest with me.”
And she understands their POV.
“’I’m from a divorced family as well,” the 43-year-old shared of what she told her kids. “I get it. That sucks. But we’re going to work it out. And you are so loved by both of us. I think communicating with them and not treating them — not treating them like an adult, because they’re not — but not treating them like a child. They’re not small feelings. Those are huge feelings, and those are huge emotions.”
No matter what they went through, Clarkson and Blackstock had a place in each other’s hearts. “My kids ask me all the time, ‘So you don’t love him anymore?'” she admitted. “I’m like, ‘No, I don’t know if that goes away.'”
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Brandon Blackstock’s eldest daughter is growing her family during a time of mourning.
