Brandon Blackstock, Kelly Clarkson’s ex, died at 48 after a cancer battle, his family announced Aug. 7. Look back at his bond with stepmom Reba McEntire, who said she loved him like he was “blood.”
Reba McEntire didn’t need a fancy word to describe her bond with Brandon Blackstock.
Because when she wed his father Narvel Blackstock in 1989, Brandon and his siblings Chassidy Blackstock and Shawna Blackstock became just family.
“I don’t consider Brandon, Chassidy and Shawna stepchildren,” the singer told The Boot back in 2010. “I claim them all.”
And recently their family—which also includes Reba and Narvel’s son Shelby Blackstock—suffered a tragic loss when Brandon died at the age of 48.
“Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years,” a family rep told NBC News in an Aug. 7 statement. “He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family.”
During Brandon’s lifetime, Reba had let her love for him and his siblings, whose mom is Elisa Gayle Ritter, be known.
“I’m very proud of all my kids. Shawna, Brandon, Chassidy and Shelby!” the Grammy winner tweeted in 2012. “Love them to pieces!!!”
And Reba was proud to welcome Kelly Clarkson to the family when she wed Brandon in 2013.
“I think it’s going to be pretty neat,” the actress told Katie Couric that year about having the American Idol winner as a daughter-in-law. “We’ve been buddies for years. 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 around the world together. So, she was just part of the family.”
The Happy’s Place actress was also ecstatic when Kelly and Brandon announced later that year that they were growing their family—with daughter River Rose making her debut in 2014 and joining the talent manager’s kids Savannah and Seth from his first marriage.
“@kelly_clarkson Narvel and I are thrilled to pieces for you, Brandon, Savannah and Seth!!!” she tweeted in November 2013. “Love, Grandma Reba and Granddad Narvel.”
In fact, Kelly—who went on to welcome son Remington “Remy” Alexander with Brandon in 2016—thanked Reba at the Kennedy Center Honors two years later for “being a really rad grandma for my kids.”
Even after Reba and Narvel ended their 26-year marriage in 2015, her bond with his children remained. She echoed that sentiment five years later when Kelly and Brandon broke up, with the Reba star emphasizing they both still had a place in her heart.
“I love them both, and so I can’t play favorites,” she told Entertainment Tonight in October 2021, five months before the former couple finalized their divorce. “Because I’ve been a friend of Kelly for a long time. Brandon’s been my son forever it seems like. Although he’s my stepson, I still love him like he’s my total—my blood. So, I’m praying for ‘em both ’cause I love ‘em both.”
That love was evident all the way to the end. Five months before Brandon’s passing, Shelby posted a picture of him, Reba, her boyfriend Rex Linn, Chassidy, Shawna, Savannah and more relatives at the Houston Rodeo—noting in the March 5 Instagram post they had a blast “being able to spend cherished time with family.”