Why Kelly Clarkson couldn’t give up on her ex Brandon Blackstock

Kelly Clarkson has never been one to hide her emotions.

As the star performed her hit “Piece by Piece” — written about the love she once had with her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock — during her Las Vegas show last weekend, she was fighting back tears, according to audience members.

It was made abundantly clear why when Clarkson canceled the rest of her August dates for her “Studio Sessions” residency on Wednesday night, revealing that Blackstock, with whom she shared two young children, was sick.

Still, it was a shock when he died just hours later, after a three-year battle with skin cancer.

Multiple sources told Page Six how Clarkson has struggled this past year with the prospect of losing the man she once truly loved — and with becoming a single mom. 

She has had to face all of this with a heavy workload. Clarkson is scheduled to return for the seventh season of NBC’s “The Kelly Clarkson Show” next month and has signed on as a returning coach on the upcoming season of “The Voice.”

She is believed to have already filmed audition segments for “The Voice,” but could bow out of the live shows, said industry insiders. “They cannot force her,” said one source.

We have reached out to Clarkson’s rep and NBC for comment.

Clarkson, 43, has spoken openly in the past about how Blackstock, who was also her former manager, changed her life.

Back in 2015, she released the emotional song “Piece by Piece” — which was inspired both by her father, Stephen Clarkson, leaving their family when she was a small child, and by her romance with Blackstock.

“He never walks away / He never asks for money / He takes care of me / He loves me / Piece by piece, he restored my faith / That a man can be kind and a father could stay,” she sang of her then-husband.

“She had to muster the energy to sing “Piece by Piece’ without crying,” audience member Lois Rodriguez wrote on Instagram of Clarkson’s recent Vegas performance, “I think I understand why now. Unlike her father, though, her children’s father was leaving them in his death. She knew it was inevitable, which might explain the tears.”

Making it even more gut-wrenching, as Rodriguz wrote: “Her kids were there with her, adorable as ever.”

Blackstock, 48, had battled melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer, before his death in the early hours of Thursday morning. Despite a contentious divorce that Clarkson has not shied away from publicly discussing, she helped care for him during this final, painful year.

Indeed, Blackstock’s illness was the reason for Clarkson taking time off from her hit NBC talk show back in March. She missed 10 consecutive tapings of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” citing “personal reasons,” while celebrity pals including Andy Cohen and Brooke Shields stepped in for her.

Hollywood star Simu Liu admitted he was told he was taking over temporary hosting duties with just five minutes to spare after arriving on set to promote his movie, “Last Breath” 

The singer also missed her show on April 21. But she stayed mum on why, mainly to protect the children her daughter, River, 11, and son, Remington, 9.

As rumors abounded about Blackstock’s health, people around Clarkson rallied to keep things private, branding the gossip “disgusting” and “hurtful.”

“Kelly’s personal life is so insanely complicated,” a source who has worked with her told us this week. “The divorce was beyond toxic and the continuing relationship with Brandon was not good — it was incredibly tense and fraught, and co-parenting with him was not at all easy.”

Clarkson and Blackstock — who was the former stepson of country star Reba McEntire — first crossed paths during a rehearsal for the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2006.

“My guitar player’s wife Ashley was my date for that night and we had just both been in crap relationships,” Clarkson shared in 2017. “Sometimes it sucks dating because it’s so many wrong ones until you get the right one.”

Then, Clarkson spotted Blackstock, saying, “And he walked by, I was ready to take it all off. I just felt something.”

At the time, Blackstock was still married to Melissa Ashworth, with whom he shared daughter Savannah, 23, and son Seth, 18. They divorced in 2012 and, when he and Clarkson met again, things happened fast.

The two were engaged in December 2012.

“I’ve only had three other boyfriends that I dated, and not really seriously,” Clarkson admitted to People in 2013. “This guy walks by [at the 2006 ACMs], making everybody laugh. I said, ‘I’m gonna end up with him. I know it.’”

They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony at posh Blackberry Farms near Knoxville, Tennessee, on October 20, 2013.

Blackstock took over as his wife’s manager in 2017, and as Page Six previously reported, masterminded her multi-million TV deal with NBC.

The star was paid in the range of $10 million per season as a coach on “The Voice,” we’re told, and is believed to get even more for hosting her show — a deal also brokered by Blackstock.

“The irony is that he’s had a very positive influence on her life; he made these phenomenal deals for her, and she wouldn’t be here without him. But it’s hard to be a manager and a husband,” an industry insider told us, “At the time, she greatly appreciated what he had done for her career.”

It was Clarkson who filed for divorce on June 4, 2020, after almost seven years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

According to court documents, “the level of conflict between the parents [had] increased” and that they had “a difficult time co-parenting due to issues of trust between them.”

“Everything between Kelly and Brandon was stressful and intense and, like, one match away from a powder keg going off when it came to those ongoing negotiations,” said the source. “And trying to keep the kids stable in the midst of all that is just hugely exhausting and draining.”

One month after the court’s decision, Clarkson alleged that Blackstock acted fraudulently as her manager. He denied defrauding his estranged wife out of millions.

Their divorce was finalized in March 2022. According to court documents, Clarkson was ordered to pay her ex a one-time payment of $1,326,161, as well as monthly payments of $115,000 in spousal support until January 31, 2024, plus $45,601 monthly in child support.

Clarkson was granted primary physical custody of her kids, while they shared joint legal custody. But when the chips were down, Clarkson was by Blackstock’s side.

Talking about his illness, another source previously told us a few months ago, “Kelly is fighting some serious hidden battles that very few people are privy to.”

Last month, the singer canceled the opening night of her Vegas residency with just 90 minutes to spare, devastating fans.

While Blackstock’s health may have been an issue Clarkson also cited problems with her voice, and a Vegas source told us, “Kelly is incapable of singing a song halfway. She belts out every single note. She’s an incredibly powerful singer but it takes its toll on her vocal cords and she’s coming incredibly close to needing surgery before. She cannot risk damaging her chords further— she’s on thin ice.”

The 2002 “American Idol” winner is set to return to Vegas in November, according to her website. As we previously revealed, she has long been planning to focus on her kids and her music — and will likely leave her NBC show when her contract expires next year.

She had moved to NYC with her kids in 2023 for the show, but it’s expected she won’t stay in the city.

NBC chiefs remain huge fans of Clarkson’s, however, and would love her to stay at the network in some capacity — including taping specials such as her annual holiday shows.

Blackstock, who resided in Butte, Mont., after moving out of the family’s original Montana ranch, was set to become a grandfather again — his daughter from his first marriage, Savannah, 23, recently announced she is expecting a baby girl early next year.

Savannah, who posted a photo with her dad online just weeks before his death, is already mom to son Lake, 2, with husband Quentin Lee, with whom she works in real estate in Ocala, Florida. 

“I am devastated for Kelly and the kids,” said a friend. “I know that her entire focus will now be on the children, they’re her world.”