What do Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire have in common? Husbands who became their managers and are actually father and son, for one.
They’ve also both been divorced from those same husbands, but with different results.
In Kelly’s case, her marriage to Brandon Blackstock lasted 7 years. Reba’s marriage to Narvel Blackstock, Brandon’s dad, went on for decades before they called it quits.
Here’s how Kelly and Reba’s eerily similar relationships played out:
Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock’s Marriage
Kelly and Brandon‘s marriage saw the two of them not only leading a romantic partnership, but a business one too. Brandon was Kelly’s manager and made millions off of her during their relationship. Some of his earnings from being her manager were later found to be illegal and he was ordered to return more than $2.5 million in commissions he’d wrongfully charged her.
According to CNN, Kelly was ordered to pay Brandon more than $40,000 per month in child support, a one-time sum of $1.3 million and spousal support of over $100,000 per month as well (until January, 2024).
In a radio interview for Apple Music 1, Kelly got real with listeners, admitting she didn’t handle her separation from Brandon Blackstock particularly well. She stated: “I don’t know how people get through anything like that because I’m not going to say I did it gracefully. Behind closed doors by myself, it was not.”
Kelly had a lot to say about her relationship as well as her experiences with the divorce proceedings and aftermath. Her words were:
“I don’t know that there’s one moment. I think it’s gradual. And that’s what people tell you, too. […] I literally said to my therapist [before we were separated], ‘We’re trying to figure it out. I desperately want to make this happen,’ but I think I knew in my heart it just wasn’t going to.
It’s just sh—ty, and that’s where I’m at, and I don’t want to go through it. … Love makes you do really incredible things and incredibly stupid things. […] I think one thing that did help me is she was like, ‘You don’t have to attend every argument that you’re invited to.’ And that really stuck with me.”
Reba McEntire and Narvel Blackstock’s Marriage
According to Nicki Swift, Reba was not keen on divorce from Narvel and asserted that she truly cared for him. She mentioned how important Narvel was to her in an interview on Entertainment Tonight in 1989. Her words were: “I’ve got to have that from someone I trust and I do trust Narvel explicitly. That’s why I married him. I love him and I trust him very much.”
But, despite her affections, Narvel would go on to leave her after so many years of marriage. In a 2016 interview with Cody Alan, she pointed out how blindsided she had been by the divorce, stating “Well, the divorce was not my idea. I didn’t want it in any shape, form, or fashion.”
Despite their breakup, the two actually announced that they would still work together as they had before. Their announcement read: “Despite this being the end of their marriage, they continue to support each other. They have worked together for 35 years and will continue to do so. They have asked that you respect their privacy during this time.”
Like Father, Like Son?
Both Kelly and Reba had to pay their exes big money once they divorced. In Reba’s case, Narvel was paid an enormous $47.5 million, according to Yahoo. The fact that both father and son had similar relationships with talented singers that they cashed in on as managers is a little jarring.
Reba recounts their long marriage as having been “always business”, stating: “I think it works for some people. They can be married or have a relationship and work together. Our work was all the time. Our marriage was 26 years. We started out working together in the band. He was part of the band, and then became my manager, later on then my husband, but it was a situation that was always business — whether we were getting ready in the morning, pillow talk, whatever, but it was business.”
