Inside Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock’s complicated relationship

Kelly Clarkson is mourning the loss of her late ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.

The talent manager tragically died at the age of 48, a rep for the family confirmed Thursday.

Insiders told Page Six that the “Since You’ve Been Gone” songstress took a brief leave of absence from the spotlight in early 2025 to take care of her ex, who was privately battling cancer for over three years.

“It’s been exhausting and so sad. Kelly has been working so hard, as well as looking after Brandon,” a source shared with us at the time. “Despite their difficult divorce, he’s still the man she loved and still her kids’ father.”

Clarkson and Blackstock had a complicated relationship in the years leading up to his death. The couple — who were married from 2013 to 2022 — were engaged in a messy divorce battle, but remained amicable to co-parent their two kids together: River, 11, and Remington, 9.

Keep scrolling to learn more about their ups and downs over the years.

Crossing paths

Clarkson and Blackstock first crossed paths while the singer was rehearsing for the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2006.

The American Idol alum recalled meeting the talent manager and knowing she would marry him during an interview with People in 2013.

“I’ve only had three other boyfriends that I dated, and not really seriously,” she said. “This guy walks by, making everybody laugh. I said, ‘I’m gonna end up with him. I know it.’”

At the time, Blackstock was married to his first ex-wife, Melissa Ashworth. The two called it quits in 2012.

Reconnecting

The duo reconnected at the 2012 Super Bowl, when Clarkson was selected as one of the pre-game performers for the NFL championship game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.

Clarkson took the field at Lucas Oil Stadium to sing the national anthem. She was joined on the field by Blackstock’s then-client, Blake Shelton, who performed a rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

“I was so nervous because it wasn’t that I didn’t want to suck for the millions of people watching, I didn’t want to suck because I was trying to impress a guy,” the “Breakaway” singer shared during an on-air interview with SiriusXM in 2017, per People.

“I wanted him to be like, ‘Damn.’ It had nothing to do with the Super Bowl!”

First Date

One week after the Super Bowl, Clarkson and Blackstock went on their first date on Feb. 11.

Coincidentally, their date fell on the day pop legend Whitney Houston had died.

“I was like, ‘This is a bad omen,’” she shared in 2013, according to People.

Getting Engaged and Married

Clarkson announced that Blackstock had popped the question in December 2012.

“I’M ENGAGED!!!!!” she excitedly shared via social media at the time. “I wanted y’all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night! I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever.”

The pop star told People that the businessman proposed at their home in Nashville, Tenn.

They then tied the knot at Blackberry Farms in Walland, Tenn., on Oct. 20, 2013.

First Child

Clarkson announced that she was expecting her first child, a baby girl, with Blackstock in January 2014.

“We just found out we’re having a girl officially!” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) at the time. “I knew it! Only a girl could cause this much drama with all this vomiting ha!”

The TV personality gave birth to their daughter, River Rose, that June.

Second Child

In 2015, Clarkson announced she was pregnant with the couple’s second child together, a baby boy, while performing in Los Angeles.

“This is not how I wanted to announce it, but I’m pregnant,” she told the audience.

At the time, an insider told Page Six that the “Kelly Clarkson Show” host started to cry while singing her 2015 hit “Piece By Piece” and “the whole crowd cheered and helped her through the song.”

Clarkson and Blackstock’s son, Remington Alexander, was born in April 2016.

Undeniable Attraction

Clarkson previously gushed about her attraction to Blackstock during an interview with SiriusXM in November 2017.

“This isn’t a downer to anybody I dated before him, but I’m just going to be real: I never felt like, honestly, sexually attracted to anybody before him,” she said, per People.

“And I’m not downing my exes. You know, everybody’s different. But there was something about him.”

Working Together

Blackstock became Clarkson’s talent manager and encouraged her to launch her own show, which later became “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” in 2019.

He also oversaw a portion of her time on “The Voice” between 2018 and 2023, and managed her various partnerships.

However, in 2023, Clarkson accused Blackstock of overcharging her as a talent manager and ordered that he pay her back $2.6 million in a bombshell lawsuit.

The following year, she alleged Blackstock told her she wasn’t “sexy” enough to be a judge on “The Voice,” while filing supportive documents for the lawsuit.

She also accused him of being an unlicensed talent agent in March 2024.

Filing for Divorce

Clarkson pulled the plug on her marriage to Blackstock in June 2020, a few months after they retreated to Montana to quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, she cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split.

The “Stronger” singer also received primary physical custody of her kids, and was ordered to pay her ex around $150,000 monthly in spousal support.

She was declared legally single in August 2021, and the divorce was finalized in 2022.