Kelly Clarkson’s Divorce From Brandon Blackstock Wasn’t Easy — Here’s What Led to It

After announcing in August 2025 that she would be postponing her Las Vegas residency because the father of her children, Brandon Blackstock, was ill, many wanted to learn more about the nature of Kelly Clarkson's relationship with him.

Clearly, Kelly and Brandon are still close enough that she wants to support him as he goes through something difficult.

Given Kelly's announcement, many people want to know why they got divorced in the first place.

Here's what we know based on their filings, and what they have said about their marriage in the past.

Kelly and Brandon were married for almost seven years, and started dating back in 2012. They tied the knot in 2013 and welcomed their first child, River Rose, in 2014. Their son Remington was born in 2016.

Brandon also worked as Kelly's manager and was one of the people who encouraged her to get her own talk show.

The two of them quarantined together at their Montana ranch during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was there that their relationship appeared to fall apart. Kelly filed for divorce in June of 2020.

Kelly cited "irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce, which wasn't finalized until 2022 thanks in part to a number of legal disputes between the two of them over custody of their children and their shared property in Montana.

Kelly was ultimately ordered to pay Brandon $1 million up front as well as $115,000 a month in spousal support.

Brandon was later ordered to pay Kelly $2.6 million for business deals he oversaw.

In an appearance on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, Kelly discussed why the marriage didn't last.

“If you’re on the same path at the same time — and you’re actually working together, and every day communicating together and doing the work — I think that it could be beautiful. But for me, it wasn’t that, and it was very limiting,” she explained. “That’s my fault for allowing that to happen. Maybe, as in love as I was, I just wasn’t ready, and maybe the other person wasn’t either.”

That's not a super-specific answer, but it suggests that even though the two of them loved each other very much, they couldn't find a way to mesh their lives and careers in a way that worked long-term.

A source speaking to Page Six offered additional insight, suggesting that Kelly often felt lonely even though she was married.

"Kelly felt single in a lot of ways even while she and Brandon were still married," the source explained. The source added that Kelly often “attended school events for the kids by herself when other parents would attend with both the mom and the dad.”

While Kelly has been pretty coy about why her relationship deteriorated, it seems clear that she still feels some obligation to Brandon and, of course, to the children they share.

"At this moment, I need to be fully present for them,” she wrote in a post on Instagram, explaining why she was delaying her Las Vegas residency.