Dolly Parton Gives Advise to Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire After Brandon Blackstock's Shocking Death

Dolly Parton is ready to lend her support to friends Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire as they cope with the loss of Brandon Blackstock.

The iconic country star addressed whether she had reached out to Clarkson, who was previously married to Blackstock, or McEntire, his former stepmother, following Blackstock's death from skin cancer. While Parton had yet to connect with them, she assured fans she would soon.

Reflecting on the nature of grief, Parton offered poignant advice in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "I think that you just have to be grateful for the years that you've had with someone, and you just try to remember the very best of all that," she shared.

She added: "Take their energy that they had given you then, and you just kind of recycle that, and let that become a part of you. Just honor their memory and just know they're in a better place than we are these days."

Clarkson and Blackstock were married from 2013 until their divorce in 2022. Throughout their marriage, Blackstock also acted as Clarkson's manager. The couple co-parent their two children, daughter River Rose, 11, and son Remy Alexander, 9.

Blackstock passed away on August 7, surrounded by family at his home in Butte, Mont. He was just 48 years old.

McEntire was married to Blackstock's father, Narvel Blackstock, from 1989 to 2015. On Monday, she acknowledged a heartfelt public tribute from their son, Shelby Blackstock, honoring his half-brother.

Reba responded to Shelby's words with admiration, stating, "Very well said Shelby. Yes, we will miss him so much."

Dolly, who expressed her affection for both Reba and Kelly, has also been mourning her own loss. Earlier this year, her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, passed away. The country music legend has been open about her grief.

"I am a person of faith, and I truly believe that I'm going to see him again someday," Dolly told the Associated Press in May. "I see him every day in my memories and in my heart, and in all the things that we used to do and all the things that we've built together."

Last month, Dolly revealed she wasn't yet ready to write about her emotional experiences, taking a break from producing new music. "I will later, but I'm just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas. But I think I won't finish it. I can't do it right now cause I got so many other things, and I can't afford the luxury of getting that emotional right now," she explained to Khloé Kardashian on the "Khloé In Wonder Land" podcast.

Despite her grief, the country star dedicated her new song "If You Hadn't Been There" — released shortly after Cal's death — to her late husband.