Brandon Blackstock

Brandon Blackstock was born on December 16, 1976, in Fort Worth, Texas, to film producer and music manager Nevel Blackstock and TV producer and music manager Elisa Gayle Ritter. After 15 years of marriage, his parents divorced in 1988, when Brandon was 12 years old. (Nevel married country star Reba McEntire one year later. The couple split in 2015 after 26 years of marriage.)

The Texas native followed in his parents’ footsteps in the industry, going on to manage big country acts like Rascal Flatts and Blake Shelton.

Before tying the knot with Kelly Clarkson in 2013, Brandon married his first wife, Melissa Ashworth, in 2001. The two welcomed their daughter, Savannah, one year later, and son Seth soon followed in 2006. The pair divorced in 2012.

Brandon and the “A Moment Like This” singer initially met at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2006, the same year that Ashworth gave birth to Seth. However, he and Clarkson didn’t strike up a romance until he and Ashworth had split.

“Brandon is my manager [Nevel]’s son. I’ve known him for six years but he was married for most of that time,” Clarkson told the Daily Mail in 2012, explaining how she and Brandon reconnected. “Then, suddenly, there he was at the [2012] Super Bowl and he was single.”

The couple got engaged in December 2012 and exchanged vows less than one year later in October 2013. The music exec and the “Heartbreak Song” artist welcomed daughter River Rose in 2014 and son Remington in 2016. They enjoyed life as a blended family for six years before Clarkson filed for divorce in 2020, Us Weekly confirmed at the time.

The duo’s tumultuous divorce played out for two messy years, with the original American Idol winner gaining primary custody of their children in November 2020, Us confirmed. Less than one year later, a Los Angeles County court ruled that the TV personality must pay her ex $150,000 per month in spousal support and $45,601 in child support.

The former couple finalized their divorce in March 2022, with Brandon being allowed to stay at their Montana ranch — a big point of contention in the divorce — until June of that year, paying $12,500 in rent to Clarkson every month.

After purchasing another $1.8 million home in the same state in April 2022, Brandon moved out of his ranch with Clarkson in June, as specified in the court documents, Us confirmed at the time. Since his divorce from the “Move You” artist, Brandon left the music industry and is now a full-time rancher with his own cattle ranch.