Kelly Clarkson announced that she was postponing the remainder of her Las Vegas residency to care for her children, River and Remington, while her ex-husband battles an unknown illness.
The talk show star took to Instagram to share the sad news, with a statement that read: "Unfortunately, I need to postpone the remainder of the August Studio Session dates in Las Vegas."
"While I normally keep my personal life private, this past year, my children's father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them," she continued. "I am sincerely sorry to everyone who bought tickets to the shows and I so appreciate your grace, kindness and understanding."
Kelly previously postponed the July 4 and 5 dates of her Vegas show after coming close to damaging her vocal chords during rehearsals.
Learn more about Kelly's emotional year below...
Kelly's heartbreak
© InstagramThe "Breakaway" singer and her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, were married for seven years before she filed for divorce in June 2020.
Kelly was awarded primary physical custody of River, 10, and Remington, eight, and opened up about navigating divorce while maintaining a strong co-parenting relationship with Brandon.
"The thing that's been kind of hard to navigate is I am an open book, but at some point, I'm a mama bear more than I am a person in the public eye," she told Entertainment Tonight. "So I care 100 per cent more about my children than I do anything else on this planet."
"So that's been the hard thing of, yes, I'm willing to share my experience and, yes, it is the worst," she added. "The past few months have been horribly sad. But at the same time, I have to think, 'Hmmm, what I say has a domino effect in other people's lives.'"
© Chris Polk/AMA2017Kelly later revealed that her divorce from Brandon was "extraordinarily hard" and forced her to reckon with her feelings through songwriting.
"You feel alone, and it's just a blessing to be able to have that outlet for those emotions that are overwhelming," she told People.
Stepping back
© Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via GThe 43-year-old was forced to step away from The Kelly Clarkson Show in March for a period of unexplained absence that she labeled a "private matter".
She returned in time to celebrate the 1000th episode of her talk show, and opened up about the "ups and downs" she had experienced while helming the series.
"We created a community and supported each other through a lot of ups and downs, a lot of ups and downs personally as well," Kelly told the audience in March.
© Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via G"We took a cross-country bus tour, then we moved the show to New York City! We did shows from the White House, from my Montana Ranch, from a backyard, and from the rooftop here at 30 Rock."
"For 1,000 episodes, we have laughed together, we have cried together with beautiful stories, sang together with some people, danced together, celebrated and competed together – I've lost, alone, a lot – and along the way we found comfort in one another," she continued.
"And looking back, we are all incredibly proud of what we've built and the community we've created."
