Kelly Clarkson and Her Husband Brandon Blackstock Are Divorcing After 7 Years

From Oprah Magazine

• After 7 years of marriage, Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock, a country music manager, are reportedly getting divorced, according to Us Weekly.

• Clarkson and Blackstock began dating six years after they were first introduced by Clarkson's former manager—who happens to be Blackstock's father.

• The couple share four children together, and have been raising them in a Montana ranch during the quarantine.

At the age of 20, Kelly Clarkson shot from obscurity to fame as American Idol's first-ever winner in 2002. A similar magic happened with her marriage: Clarkson said when she met her husband, Brandon Blackstock, a music manager, she experienced love at first sight.

However, after 7 years, Clarkson and Blackstock are reportedly getting divorced, according to Us Weekly. Clarkson, 38, and Blackstock, 43, who have been quarantining together at a ranch in Montana, haven't confirmed the news themselves or discussed how it will impact their blended family, which includes their two kids, River, 5, Remington, 4, and Blackstock's two children from a previous marriage.

Here, we look back at their love story.

Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock were introduced through his father.

Clarkson's former manager, Narvel Blackstock, is actually Blackstock's father. Clarkson and Blackstock were bound to meet eventually.

Their paths first crossed at the 2006 ACM Awards, where Blackstock was on duty as manager for Rascal Flatts.

"We were just in a room together, and then he came up and said he was from the same hometown as me and I was like, Oh, we're so getting married. I was so that girl," she told Ryan Seacrest on KISS-FM in October 2012.

Back then, Blackstock was still married to his first wife, Melissa Ashworth, with whom he shares two kids: Savannah, 18, and Seth, 13.

Still, Clarkson couldn't forget about Blackstock. "For the next six years, “I’d go on dates and be like, ‘Man, I didn’t get that feeling I got that one time [with Brandon],” Clarkson told People.

Narvel re-introduced Clarkson and his son in 2012 when she was gearing up to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. “He’d been divorced for a year, and it was kind of like, ‘Is this too soon?’ But it just worked," Clarkson told People.

Brandon Blackstock works as a talent manager.

Like his dad, who founded Starstruck Entertainment in 1988, Blackstock is a talent manager. Blake Shelton, Clarkson's Voice co-host, is a longtime client of his. Since their marriage, Blackstock also manages Clarkson's career. Talk about partnership!

The couple started dating in 2012.

Clarkson and Blackstock got serious soon after reconnecting at the Super Bowl. They went on their first date on February 11, 2012, she told Cosmopolitan. "This is the funniest, worst thing ever: One of my superhero idols is Whitney Houston, and the day she died was our first date. I was like, 'This is a bad omen,'" she said.

The couple made their official debut in May. "I'm so happy now. I love that I'm in a relationship right now. I'm too happy! He's ruining my creativity! I'm writing all this happy sh*t! It's killing me," she joked to Us Weekly at the time.

They got engaged within a year of dating.

On December 14, 2012, Blackstock proposed to Clarkson with a gorgeous yellow canary diamond ring.

"I'M ENGAGED!!!!! I wanted y'all to know!! Happiest night of my life last night! I am so lucky and am with the greatest man ever :)," she tweeted the next day.

After the engagement, Clarkson—and her exquisite ring—graced the cover of People Magazine.

Their wedding took place in Tennessee.

On October 20, 2013, Clarkson and her fiancé became Mr. and Mrs. Blackstock. The happy couple tied the knot at Blackberry Farms, a luxury resort located in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains. Blackstock's kids, Savannah and Seth, were also part of the bridal party, which you can see in the short but sweet wedding video below.

"We complement each other well. We're a really great partnership, not only for marriage, but for work as well," Clarkson said on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2017, referring to the fact that Blackstock eventually became her manager.

They're raising four children together.

After marrying Blackstock, Clarkson became Savannah and Seth's stepmother. "We all live together and everything. It's so different, but it's perfect. They're awesome, and I actually really dig the mom thing," Clarkson said On Air with Ryan Seacrest back in 2013.

Adding them to her family made her want children of her own, which she revealed during an interview on The View. Their family grew on June 12, 2014, when Clarkson gave birth to their daughter, River Rose, now 5.

Fast forward to April 12, 2016, when Clarkson gave birth to Remington Alexander, now 4. "We couldn't be happier or more in love!," she tweeted, along with the announcement.

Since, Clarkson has continued to post sweet pics of life at home and on their glamorous family adventures as a group of six.

Their dog, Henry, joins in on the fun.

The family has been spending time on their ranch in Montana.

Clarkson, Blackstock, and their children are spending the duration of quarantine on the rural Montana ranch they purchased about a year-and-a-half ago.

"Brandon and I love wide-open spaces and coming to the ranch. Both of us grew up the countryside, and we work seven days a week–if not seven days a week! When we have time off, we like to check out," Clarkson said, in a video tour of her ranch, Vina for The Kelly Clarkson Show.

When the family isn't spending quality time in their cozy, one-room log cabin, they're usually out riding horses or caring for cattle.

But life in a rural cabin can be complicated, as Clarkson candidly revealed in a tweet.

Clarkson is posting frequent updates—like footage of newborn calfs—on The Kelly Clarkson Show's YouTube channel.

Blackstock has surprised her on stage.

Clarkson and Blackstock's oh-so-musical relationship was showcased in 2019, when Blackstock surprised her during a concert in Greenville, South Carolina.

Visibly emotional, Clarkson stopped singing when Blackstock appeared. After she regained composure Blackstock accompanied her on guitar. They sealed the performance with a kiss.

Kelly Clarkson is related to Reba McEntire through marriage.

The music world is a small one! Country star Reba McEntire, with whom Clarkson had worked with on American Idol, was married to Narvel Blackstock for 26 years. When they got married in 1989, McEntire became Blackstock's stepmother (his mother is Elisa Gayle Ritter).

In 2015, two years after Clarkson married into the family, McEntire and Narvel split up. McEntire was not expecting the divorce.

"The divorce was not my idea. I didn't want it in any shape, form or fashion," the 60-year-old singer told CMT's Cody Alan in 2016. "So it was really hard to make the adjustment when someone's not happy. I just want everybody to be happy in their lives, because our lives are too short to be miserable."

Still, Clarkson and McEntire have remained close—they even performed together at the 2018 Country Music Awards.

"We don't get to see each other as much as we used to, and I hate that," Reba told E! News. Nonetheless, McEntire remains a part of Clarkson and Blackstock's extended family.

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