Kelly Clarkson Delivers Moving Performance Amidst Grief Following Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock‘s Death
LOS ANGELES, CA – Kelly Clarkson returned to television with a poignant performance on her daytime talk show Tuesday, just weeks after the death of her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock. Clarkson closed the show with a cover of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” visibly emotional as she sang.
Blackstock passed away following a three-year battle with melanoma cancer, according to an obituary shared by Butte Funeral Home. He was 48 years old. The performance marked Clarkson’s first public appearance since news of Blackstock’s death broke in late September, and occurred during a period of mourning that followed his passing in February and march.
Clarkson and Blackstock first met in 2006, beginning a romantic relationship six years later in 2012. They married in 2013 at Blackberry Farms in Tennessee. The couple ultimately filed for divorce in June 2020, citing “irreconcilable differences,” with the divorce finalized in 2022.
The obituary for Blackstock included the revelation that he had been in a relationship with kelly’s former assistant prior to his death. Following the divorce, Clarkson spoke candidly about the difficulties of public separation. “I think the thing about divorce – especially having it publicized, and people thinking they know the whole thing – the hardest part of that is, like, it wasn’t an overnight decision,” she shared on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast in 2023. “I wanted to make it lovely.I wanted to make it awesome. I wanted to make it everything it possibly could be, and sometimes that just doesn’t happen.”
Their post-divorce relationship was further complicated by legal disputes. Clarkson sued Blackstock last year, alleging unauthorized business dealings, and the pair engaged in a contentious legal battle over commissions.They reached a settlement in May 2024, resolving the outstanding issues two years after their divorce was finalized.