On Aug. 7 Brandon Blackstock, a talent manager and the ex-husband of Kelly Clarkson, died at the age of 48. His death was listed as natural and caused by melanoma, a type of skin cancer that begins in the melanocytes,

Dolly Parton offered a tender message of solace to the loved ones of Brandon Blackstock, a talent manager who died from skin cancer last week at the age of 48. Blackstock was the ex-husband of Kelly Clarkson and the former stepson of Reba McEntire.

Reba McEntire opened up about her former stepson, Brandon Blackstock, before he died in early August. McEntire was married to Blackstock's father, Narvel Blackstock, for 26 years before they split in 2015. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2021, she said she still considered Blackstock "my blood" (quote via People ).