Kelly Clarkson's emotional journey through love and loss in country music

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[Music] This is Kelly Clarkson performing with Rascal Flats at the 2006 ACM Awards. >> The song is What Hurts the Most. And really, it was Kelly's first introduction to country music audiences, but she may recall that day for a different reason. That's the day she met Brandon Blackstock, who at the time was Rascal Flat's tour manager. Here is singer Gary Levox's reaction to Brandon's passing. You can go ahead and read it yourself. I think I'm going to read you what she said about that moment. And I know the marriage fell apart in a very public way 15 years later, but if you've lost an ex like this, you know it's complicated, especially if kids are involved. Quote, "Literally, I'm not joking. He walked past us at that time. As he walked by, I was ready to take it all off. I just felt something. That is from people. And she'd later add that she knew they'd be together one day. Quite a bit has been shared about their personal lives, especially since Brandon's death on August 7th. But before we get to that tragedy, I'd like to take a second to reveal his important contributions to country music. Go ahead and find a time code in the description section if you just want to skip right to his cause of death, but this part's really important. We may not talk about the voice like we do without Brandon in the Kelly Clarkson show and might not have been in a position to replace Ellen without him. Brandon is the son of Narville Blackstock, who for decades was married to and managed Reeba McIntyre. Now, say what you want about how that marriage ended, but there's no doubt that Reeba's career soared with him at the helm. The same is true for Brandon and Blake Shelton, who he was managing when he and Kelly started to get serious. The day Kelly and Brandon rem was at Super Bowl 2012. She was singing the national anthem, and Blake was there to sing America the Beautiful with Miranda Lambert. In fact, it was Blake who would later nudge Brandon to propose. This was all around when Blake got his career-defining gig as a coach on The Voice. There, the show would thrive in a way it just hasn't without him. Serious question, do we have 27 seasons of The Voice without Blake getting that job? Once married, Brandon would help Kelly get more television exposure. She became coach The Voice as well, and in 2018 started to host the Kelly Clarkson show. Like his dad, there are a lot of rumors about things he might have done to accelerate the end of the marriage, but it's hard to deny his positive professional influence. So, when the couple separated in 2020 and divorced two years later, it was a huge personal and professional change for her. The most tragic part of all this is that two small kids just lost their father. Kelly and Brandon's kids are approaching their teenage years, and understandably, she's taking time away from work to be with them. Who knows when or even if she'll return to the Kelly Clarkson show. Brandon also had two older children with his first wife, Melissa. Here's a picture of the full gang here. You can drop a kind word for everyone involved in the comment section below. I'm going to get to Brandon's cause of death. Now, including the new details we just learned. Afterward, I hope you'll stick around to appreciate the tragic sorority that Kelly has just joined. I count at least six country women who've had to bury their husbands way too soon. Learning how and if they bounce back might just help us understand what the next few years for Kelly may look like. In a statement shared on the day of his passing, Starruck Entertainment revealed that Brendan had been battling cancer for three years, really since the time of his divorce. Kelly's pretty private, but during this time, she showed some unusual behavior, including long breaks from her TV show. Now, it all makes sense. There are rumors that she helped care for, but you know, who knows if those are true. At the very least, you know, she wanted to be there for River and Remy, her two children. Specifically, Brendan had melanoma, a very serious form of skin cancer. The National Cancer Institute shares that it has a 94% survival rate, but there were 100,000 cases diagnosed this year and about 8,400 deaths. It's not clear if Brandon's cancer spread to other parts of his body or if there were contributing causes to his death. Several websites note that people with autoimmune deficiencies are particularly vulnerable. Perhaps those details will come in the next few weeks. At Taste of Country, we just published a list of country women whose husbands died way too soon, and it's alarming. Most recent was Kelly Pickler, whose husband Kyle Jacobs died by suicide in 2023. If Kelly has moved on and found another partner in life she's not shared, so far all the headlines have been about her grieving and lawsuits with Kyle's family. Lorie Morgan would eventually move on. She was married to Keith Whitley when he died in 1989. Two years later, she'd marry Brad Thompson. But when Keith was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, it was clear a part of her heart remained with him. >> There are no words. I mean, I've I've gone through everything that Keith would be feeling that I feel like I knew pretty well. >> In 2005, Little Big Town's Kimberly Schleman's husband died of a heart attack. She'd later tell the boot that she was not planning on falling in love again, but a friend named Steven Schlapman quickly became more than friends and they married in 2006. In 1963, singer Jean Shepard's husband Hawk Shaw Hawkins was on the same plane that killed Paty Klene. She was 8 months pregnant at the time, but after a few years, she too would remarry in 1966. And finally, I know she's not a professional singer, but Alan Jackson's daughter Maddiey's husband died in 2018. She was really open about her sorrow in the years that followed, and she too would find love again. In 2023, she married a man named Connor Smith, not the singer, and the couple now have a one-year-old daughter. If you appreciate this more patient and sensitive approach to country music news, reporting, and storytelling, please consider tapping subscribe below. I'm Billy Dukes for Taste of Country. Thanks for watching.