The first American Idol champion, Kelly Clarkson, endured years of personal and legal turmoil with her former husband in the period leading up to his death — a time marked by court filings, custody battles, and deep family strain.
Brandon Blackstock, a talent manager and Clarkson’s ex-husband, died at age 48 after a more than three-year battle with cancer. He was also the stepson of country music legend Reba McEntire.
His family confirmed his passing in a statement to USA Today on August 7, 2025: “It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away.”
Clarkson and Blackstock, who married in October 2013 after a December 2012 engagement, shared two children: daughter River Rose and son Remington Alexander. Their divorce and custody proceedings revealed ongoing challenges in co-parenting.
In November 2020, a Los Angeles County judge granted Clarkson primary physical custody, citing the importance of stability and continuity for the children. The ruling acknowledged a high level of conflict between the parents and issues of trust. Under the agreement, Clarkson maintained primary custody in Los Angeles, while Blackstock — living in Montana and continuing his work as a music manager — was granted visitation and daily FaceTime calls. Both agreed not to speak disparagingly about one another in front of the children.
Clarkson spoke candidly about these challenges on her talk show in early 2021, calling co-parenting “tough” and noting the difficulty of raising children when parents live in different places, even when they agree on major issues.
While custody arrangements were set, financial disputes between the two continued for years. In May 2024, both sides dismissed ongoing legal cases, avoiding a scheduled public trial over whether Blackstock had improperly taken commissions from Clarkson’s deals, including her role on The Voice. By then, Blackstock was already contending with serious health issues, having been diagnosed with cancer years earlier.
Beyond the legal battles, the separation’s emotional impact on the family was profound. In June 2023, Clarkson revealed on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast that her children still held onto the hope their parents might reunite. Over a year later, in November 2024, she told KOST 103.5 that her kids expressed reluctance about her dating, saying, “Please, we don’t want you to be with anybody else.”
The couple’s relationship — marked by public disputes, court proceedings, and the private reality of illness — ended with Blackstock’s passing. He leaves behind two young children whose wishes for their parents remained unchanged until the very end.
