Brandon Blackstock’s death from melanoma on August 7 at age 48 has brought new details to light about his personal life after his divorce from Kelly Clarkson. The talent manager’s obituary revealed he had been in a relationship with a woman who had close ties to his former marriage.
Brittney Marie Jones, who was identified in Blackstock’s obituary as his “soulmate,” had previously worked as Kelly Clarkson’s production assistant. According to her LinkedIn profile, Jones worked in this role in Nashville from 2016 to 2018, during Clarkson and Blackstock’s marriage.
The obituary described Jones as Blackstock’s “beautiful and loving partner in life and business.” Jones’ father Larry, confirmed their close relationship in a Facebook tribute, calling Blackstock “my daughter’s soulmate” and saying he “considered him my son.”
Jones’ career path shows key timeline connections
The timeline of Jones’ career moves shows interesting connections to the breakdown of Clarkson and Blackstock’s marriage. In December 2018, Jones moved from working directly for Clarkson to an executive management assistant role for Blackstock. Even in this new position, she still helped manage Clarkson’s daily schedule according to her LinkedIn profile.
The most significant career change came in June 2020, when Jones became an executive assistant for V Bar B Cattle Co., Blackstock’s Montana ranch. This was the same month that Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce from Blackstock, ending their seven-year marriage.
Jones and Blackstock built their life together in Montana, where they worked on several business projects. The obituary stated that the pair “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.”
Blackstock and Clarkson finalized their divorce in 2022 after a lengthy legal process.. The former couple shared two children together: daughter River, 11, and son Remington, 9. Blackstock also had two older children from his previous marriage to Melissa Ashworth: son Seth, 18, and daughter Savannah, 23.
Clarkson has previously spoken about the difficulty of their divorce. In a 2023 interview on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast, the singer explained the emotional toll of the split. “It rips you apart,” Clarkson said. “Whenever you fall in love with someone and it doesn’t work.”
The Because of You singer said that the divorce was not a quick decision. “The hardest part of that is, like, it wasn’t an overnight decision,” she said, though sources later revealed one major red flag that ultimately pushed Kelly Clarkson to end her marriage. “That was years in trying to make – not make it work, ’cause I never wanted to be part of something to ‘make it work.’ I wanted to make it beautiful. I wanted to make it awesome. I wanted to make it everything it possibly could be, and sometimes that just doesn’t happen.”
Blackstock’s family announced his death in a statement, revealing he had “bravely battled cancer for more than three years.” They said he “passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family” and asked for privacy during this difficult time. Fans of Clarkson are having a hard time digesting the revelation about Jones or how closely intertwined her relationship with Blackstock is with his divorce from the singer, with many on social media pointing out how she disrupted her life – canceling her concerts and postponing her show – for her ex-husband and was the one whom the divorce affected the most.
Published: Aug 13, 2025 11:41 am