Update, December 1, 2020:
In June, Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce from her husband of nearly seven years, Brandon Blackstock, citing "irreconcilable differences." The couple have two children together — a 5-year-old daughter named River and a 4-year-old son named Remington. Brandon also has two children from a previous marriage.
In the midst of their divorce proceedings, new court documents obtained by People reveal that the couple will share joint and physical custody, but Kelly will have primary custody of their children in Los Angeles. Brandon plans to live in Montana, while Kelly will stay in Los Angeles due to the filming of The Kelly Clarkson Show and The Voice.
The documents give a deeper look at what's really happening between the former couple: "The level of conflict between the parents has increased. The parties have a difficult time co-parenting due to issues of trust between them," it explains. The pair also agreed to "not speak in a derogatory manner about the other parent to the minor children."
Since news first broke, Kelly has only spoken on the matter once when she responded to someone who accused her of focusing on work instead of her marriage. With the return of The Kelly Clarkson Show, she felt the need to address the news during her first monologue of season 2. "As you probably know, 2020 has brought a lot of change also to my personal life,” she said. "Definitely didn’t see anything coming that came, but what I’m dealing with is hard — it involves more than just my heart, it involves a lot of little hearts."
Going forward, Kelly plans to keep the details about her divorce private. "So, I’m usually very open and I usually talk about everything, but in this case I will talk a little bit here and there about how it affects me personally, but probably won’t go too far into it because I'm a mama bear and my kids come first," she continued.
But she confirms that you'll likely hear more about how she's doing ("Everybody keeps asking ‘Are you ok?’ and I am — the answer is yes," she says) in future music releases: "Music has always been my outlet to get through difficult times and this year I’ve been listening to a lot of music and I’ve also been writing a lot of music as well."
Original, September 9, 2019:
Kelly Clarkson is embarking on a new television career as host of The Kelly Clarkson Show on NBC, but when she’s not in front of the camera, she’s hanging with her favorite person: her husband, Brandon Blackstock. He’s her life partner and manager, and they make each other beyond happy.
As we look forward to watching Kelly helm her own talk show, we’re taking a few steps back to when she met Brandon. Here’s everything we know about their epic love story.
Pretty cute, huh?
Kelly met Brandon in 2006
When she was rehearsing before the American Country Music Awards in 2006, Brandon walked by and everything changed. Her manager at the time was Brandon’s dad, Narvel Blackstock, and Brandon was (and is currently) in the same line of work. To make things even more intertwined, Brandon’s stepmom was Reba McEntire, Kelly’s mentor.
“This guy walks by, making everybody laugh. I said, ‘I’m gonna end up with him. I know it,’ ” she told People in 2013.
Though sparks flew for Kelly, she didn’t act on her feelings right away. Brandon was married to his now-ex-wife Melissa Ashworth.
They reconnected at the 2012 Super Bowl
As fate would have it, Brandon has ended his marriage and Kelly was set to perform the national anthem. The “America the Beautiful” performer was Blake Shelton, who was managed by none other than Brandon.
Kelly and Brandon shortly after reconnecting.
“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,” Clarkson told SiriusXM listeners in 2017. “I wanted him to be like, ‘Damn.’ It had nothing to do with the Super Bowl!”
In that same interview, Kelly said that Brandon actually thought she “hated” him, but they eventually had their first date. Kelly was skeptical about the timing, though, because it was on the same day one of her heroes died.
“One of my superhero idols is Whitney Houston, and the day she died was our first date,” she told Cosmopolitan in 2013. “I was like ‘This is a bad omen.’”
Kelly and Brandon moved in together 9 months later
When Kelly appeared on Ellen in November 2012, the host congratulated her on her engagement. But Kelly was quick to deny those rumors, and share her love for her man.
“We are totally going to get married. We love each other. We are totally going to get married one day, but he has two children and I’m new … I mean, he’s gotta put a ring on it at some point, but I’ll wait it out.”
The following month, though, it happened.
“I'M ENGAGED!!!!!” she wrote on Twitter. “I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night! I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever :).”
Everyone was thrilled to hear the news, especially her soon-to-be mother-in-law Reba, who spoke about it on Katie Couric’s talk show Katie.
Narvel Blackstock, Reba McEntire, Kelly Clarkson, and Brandon Blackstock.
“We’ve been buddies for years,” she said. “The first time I met Kelly was in 2002 when she asked me to sing with her at the finale of American Idol. Then, we toured together and we’ve been on vacations all over the world together, and so she was just part of the family … I’m thrilled to death to have my buddy as my daughter-in-law. Who could ask for more?”
It was clearly meant to be.
Kelly and Brandon were married in October 2013
After going back and forth on wedding plans, and even announcing a potential elopement, the couple wed in Tennessee.
“I’m officially Mrs. Blackstock :),” she shared on Twitter. “We got married yesterday at Blackberry Farms in TN, the most beautiful place ever!”
Brandon doesn’t often post on social media, but he shared a throwback photo from their wedding to honor his wife on Valentine’s Day in 2015.
“Happy Valentines to the love of my life!!!” he wrote on Instagram.
The wedding made Kelly a stepmom to Brandon’s two kids. Daughter Savannah is now 17 and son Seth is 11.
Then came their babies!
Kelly gave birth to their first child, River Rose, in June 2014.
“Our baby girl River Rose Blackstock arrived on June 12th!" she wrote on Twitter. "Thank you everyone for all of your well wishes! Brandon and I are on cloud 9!! :)"
In August 2015, the singer made an impromptu announcement midway through performing her song “Piece By Piece” at a concert. She told fans, “I was not planning on announcing this but … I’m totally pregnant. Eight months later, the couple welcomed their son Remington “Remy” Alexander.
The song “Piece By Piece” had significance at another point in Kelly’s life, when Brandon surprised her on stage in April 2019 … and brought her to tears. She was belting it out, and from behind, fans saw Brandon strumming the guitar.
It took her a second, but then she realized he was there and had to stop singing. “This is my husband,” she told the crowd, before going back into it.
From everything we can see, Kelly and Brandon are happier than ever, and we’re adding them to our list of goal-worthy couples.
