Things totally changed for Kelly Clarkson and ex-husband Brandon Blackstock in the three years during which he was battling the cancer that would eventually claim his life last week - even amid their contentious divorce battle. As we've been reporting, the 48-year-old Blackstock passed away last Thursday after privately fighting cancer for the last three years. And in the meantime, Kelly has had to go into mom mode full-time as she grapples with the effect of the pair's two children River Rose, 11, and Remington Alexander, 9, losing their father.