Kelly Clarkson Delivers Moving Performance Amidst Grief Following โEx-Husband โBrandon 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 โคthe show โฃwith a cover of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” โvisibly emotional as she sang.
Blackstock passed โaway following a three-year battle with melanoma cancer, according to an obituary shared by Butte Funeral Home. He was 48 years โฃold. The performance โคmarked Clarkson’s first public appearance since newsโ of Blackstock’s death broke in late September, and occurred during a โขperiod of mourning that followed his passing in February โand march.
Clarkson and Blackstock firstโข met in 2006, beginning a romantic relationship six years later in 2012. They married in 2013 โat Blackberry Farms inโ 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 relationshipโข with โkelly’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 thingโ – the hardest part of that is, like, itโ wasn’tโฃ an overnight decision,” she shared on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast in 2023. “I wanted โto make it lovely.I wanted toโ make it awesome. I wanted to make it everything it possibly could be, and sometimes โฃthat just doesn’t happen.”
Their post-divorce relationship was further complicated by legal disputes. Clarksonโข sued Blackstock lastโ year,โ alleging unauthorized business dealings, โคandโข the pair engaged in a contentious legal battle over commissions.They reached a settlement in May 2024, resolving theโ outstanding issues two years after โtheir divorce was finalized.
