Kelly Clarkson may be able to get good counsel from country women who’ve lost husbands too soon.

• Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock died on Aug. 7, 2025, after a three-year cancer battle.
• The couple had two kids together, River Rose and Remington Alexander.
• The day before his death, the singer shared that she was clearing her professional calendar to be with her children.

Technically, Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock were divorced three years when he died in August 2025. That doesn’t mean the loss will be easy. At the very least, the singer and original American Idol winner will grieve with her children.

That’s actually something most of the women listed below don’t have in common with Clarkson. While married, few had kids, although one was eight months pregnant.

Lorrie Morgan is the exception. She did have a young son named Jessie when her husband Keith Whitley died in 1989. That’s really about it, until you get to the last couple of entries that stray from the theme slightly.

The silver lining is in how several of the women listed below have bounced back. More than half remarried, and in a few cases, they found love again quickly.

Kids would come and the years would make the pain of losing a spouse more bearable. Morgan’s story makes it clear that there’s never a point where you’re “over it,” but almost everyone we found is moving on.

Men like Gary Allan, Hank Williams Jr. and Rory Feek would make this list if we expanded to male and female country celebrities. Scroll to read nine stories of heartbreak and how each woman responded.