Brandon Blackstock, the former husband of pop-music icon Kelly Clarkson, died last week from a serious form of skin cancer, according to multiple reports.

Dan Hollis, a coroner in Silver Bow County, Montana, tells USA Today that Blackstock, 48, had melanoma, a cancer that originates in melanocytes, cells that give skin its color. Melanoma often is caused by exposure to the sun, but the exact cause isn’t clear, according to the Mayo Clinic .

“He passed away peacefully at his home in Butte, Montana, on Aug. 7 under hospice care, surrounded by his family,” Hollis tells Rolling Stone .

The Hollywood Reporter reports Blackstock had been contending with the illness for the past three years.

Blackstock and Clarkson were married in 2013 and had two children together, River Rose, 11,

See Full Page