Brandon Blackstock and Melissa Ashworth were together for over a decade before his marriage to Kelly Clarkson.

People reports that Ashworth Wells was very fond of Clarkson and approved of her becoming stepmother to her children. "I love Kelly," she told the publication in 2013. "I've known her for years and I couldn't ask for a better stepmother for my children."

After Brandon Blackstock died August 7 following a battle with melanoma, his ex-wife Melissa Ashworth Wells paid tribute to the late talent manager, who is dad to their two kids Savannah and Seth.