Coroner Dan Hollis has confirmed that Brandon Blackstock, the Nashville music manager and ex-husband of Kelly Clarkson, passed away on August 7 at age 48 from melanoma, a form of skin cancer, while under hospice care at his home in Butte, Montana. Blackstock had bravely battled cancer for over three years, according to his employer Starstruck Entertainment. The news of Blackstock’s death followed Clarkson’s postponement of the August dates of her Las Vegas residency in order to be with their children during his illness. Footage of Clarkson’s emotional, tear-filled performance only 12 days before Blackstock’s death has just surfaced, with the singer breaking down while introducing her tender 2015 hit song, “Piece by Piece.” Blackstock, son of Starstruck co-founder Narvel Blackstock and former stepson of Reba McEntire, married Clarkson in 2013, with whom he had two children; he also leaves behind two children from a previous marriage and a grandson. (Billboard)