Brandon Blackstock, Kelly Clarkson's ex-husband, was in a "loving" relationship with Brittney Marie Jones, her former production assistant and his executive assistant, at the time of his death, according toan obituary shared onlineby his family. Blackstock died on Aug. 7 at his home in Butte, Mont., after a three-year battle with melanoma, a form of skin cancer. The obituary describes Jones as Blackstock's "beautiful and loving partner in life and business." Blackstock and Jones had "started building a life, building companies, and working tirelessly to create Headwaters Livestock Auction and what will live on as his legacy, The Valley View Rodeo in Bozeman, Montana," per the obituary, which was posted to the Axelson Funeral & Cremation Services website in Butte. It makes no mention of Clarkson, with whom he shared two children: their 11-year-old daughter, River Rose, and Remy Alexander, their 9-year-old son. They were married from 2013 to 2020, when Clarkson filed for divorce. Ahighly-publicized and acrimonious splitfollowed. Their divorce was finalized in 2022. The obituary also does not mention Blackstock's first wife, Melissa Ashworth, with whom he shared two children: Savannah, 23, and Seth, 18. Blackstock and Ashworth were married from 2001 to 2012. (Savannah revealed in July that she is expecting her second child with her husband early next year.) All of Blackstock's children and grandchildren are named in the obit, as well as his parents, stepparents (including his former stepmother, Reba McEntire), grandparents, siblings, stepsiblings and son-in-law. According to People magazine, Jones was Clarkson's former production assistant. Jones worked full-time for Clarkson in Nashville from 2016 to 2018,according to her LinkedIn profile. Jones served as Blackstock's executive assistant at Starstruck Entertainment, the talent agency founded by his father, from 2018 to 2020. As part of that role, Jones was "based in Los Angeles to be on the set ofThe Kelly Clarkson Show" and helped manage Clarkson's day-to-day schedule, according to the LinkedIn page. In June 2020, the same month Clarkson filed for divorce, she became an executive assistant at V Bar V Cattle Co., a Montana ranch owned by Blackstock. The day before Blackstock's death, Clarkson revealed that she was postponing the remaining August dates of her Las Vegas residency to support her children amid Blackstock's illness. "Unfortunately, I need to postpone the remainder of the August Studio Session dates in Las Vegas," Clarksonannounced in a post on Instagram. "While I normally keep my personal life private, this past year, my children's father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them." Blackstock's death was announced the next day. "It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away," a representative for his family said ina statement to multiple news outlets. "Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and ask everyone to respect the family's privacy during this very difficult time."
