Video above: Remembering those we lost in 2025<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away,\u201d a representative for the Blackstock family told CNN in a statement on Thursday. \u201cBrandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement added: \u201cWe thank you for your thoughts and prayers and ask everyone to respect the family\u2019s privacy during this very difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The news came just a day after Clarkson had announced she would be pausing the rest of her Las Vegas residency, citing Blackstock\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile 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,\u201d Clarkson wrote in a statement posted on her verified Instagram account on Wednesday night.<\/a> \u201cI am sincerely sorry to everyone who bought tickets to the shows and I so appreciate your grace, kindness and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t \n\t\tTaylor Hill\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrandon Blackstock in 2020<\/p>\n The couple share a daughter, River, born in 2014, and a son, Remington, born in 2016.<\/p>\n Blackstock was the son of Narvel Blackstock, CEO of the Nashville-based talent management firm Starstruck, whose client include country stars Blake Shelton and Carly Pearce, and TV producer and music manager Elisa Gayle Ritter. His parents divorced when he was 12.<\/p>\n Narvel Blackstock married country superstar McEntire in 1989 and she helped to raise Brandon. The elder Blackstock and McEntire split in 2015 after 26 years of marriage.<\/p>\n Like his parents, Brandon Blackstock had a love for the music industry and began his career in talent management.<\/p>\n Music is also what led Blackstock to Clarkson.<\/p>\n After initially meeting at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2006, Clarkson and Blackstock reconnected in 2012 at Super Bowl XLVI, where Clarkson performed the national anthem. Blackstock was Shelton\u2019s manager at the time, who was also at the game singing \u201cAmerica the Beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n They eloped in 2013 and Blackstock also served as his wife\u2019s manager and a producer on her award-winning daytime talk show, \u201cThe Kelly Clarkson Show.\u201d<\/p>\n After seven years of marriage Clarkson filed for divorce in 2020, citing \u201cirreconcilable differences.\u201d<\/p>\n She and Blackstock settled their contentious divorce in 2022, with Clarkson having to make a one-time payment of $1.3 million as well as paying her ex $115,000 in monthly spousal support until January 31, 2024 as well as a monthly child support payment.<\/p>\n In 2021, McEntire commented on being supportive of both Blackstock and Clarkson amid their divorce during an appearance on Extra<\/a>, saying she loved them both and that she was \u201cpulling for both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI pray everyone gives them the encouragement they can because they need it right now, both of them do. I love the both of them with all my heart,\u201d she added at the time.<\/p>\n CNN has reached out to reps for both Clarkson and McEntire for comment. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"SANTA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/gettyimages-1199134838-6894f1c18bfdf.jpg\"\/ "\\"25th")
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