Back in 1989, Reba McEntire walked down the aisle, marrying Narvel Blackstock. Although they shared a son, Shelby Blackstock, Narvel brought three children of his own from a previous marriage, Chassidy, Shawna, and Brandon. While Narvel and Reba were married for nearly three decades, they eventually divorced in 2015. But even after their split, Reba still considered her stepchildren “blood.”
Sadly, on August 7th, the Blackstock family announced that Brandon passed away after battling cancer for the last three years. In a statement, the family said, “Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”
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Looking back over Reba’s career, the singer never shied away from claiming her love for Brandon and the rest of her children. Caring little if they were from an earlier marriage, she declared, “Brandon’s been my son forever, it seems. Although he’s my stepson, I still love him like he’s my total — my blood.”
Reba McEntire Doesn’t “Play Favorites”
Reba once found her family getting bigger when Brandon married Kelly Clarkson. Another powerful voice in the music industry, the two seemed inseparable as Reba appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show. Although Clarkson and Brandon got divorced, Reba still praised her fellow country singer. “Kelly and I do talk, we text and I love them both, and so I can’t play favorites because I’ve been a friend of Kelly for a long time.”
As for Clarkson, she felt the same way, noting that she was friends with Reba way before marrying Brandon. “We text each other all the time. I think we’re both women of sound mind that know that life doesn’t work out sometimes. She would know best. Literally the same thing. So yeah, no hard feelings there. Just feelings.”
With Brandon passing away, Clarkson postponed all her August shows in Las Vegas to support her two children, River and Remington, as they mourned the death of their father. Thanking fans for their ongoing support through the difficult time, she concluded, “I need to be fully present for them.”
(Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Celebrity Fight Night)