American Idol

Kelly Clarkson has returned to The Kelly Clarkson Show just over a month after her ex-husband and father of her two children died at the age of 48

Kelly Clarkson has returned to her TV show stateside a month after the death of her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock. The former American Idol winner, 43, took time out from presenting The Kelly Clarkson Show after the tragic news of Brandon’s death in August.

Brandon, who was married to Kelly for almost seven years their split in 2022, died from melanoma on August 7. He was aged just 48. The duo shared two children together, River Rose, 11, and nine-year-old Remy. Brandon also had two children from a previous relationship.

Now, returning to her role on the show, Kelly showed her usual mix of humour and emotion. While she didn’t directly touch on her former husband’s death, the occasion was emotional.

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During the show, Kelly spoke with Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. The Hollywood pair were on the show to promote their new film A Big Bold Beautiful Journey. The trio bonded over ‘the highs and lows of parenthood’.

Earlier this month, Reba McEntire opened up about how her grandchildren, Brandon and Kelly’s children, are doing following his tragic death. She was speaking while on the red carpet at the Emmys.

“The kids are doing well, they’re all bonding together and hanging out with each other, and taking it one day at a time,” she confessed. “We know God’s got this.”

Brandon, who was a talent manager, died after living with melanoma for over three years. A rep for his family announced the death at the time via a prepared statement.

It read: “It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away. Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years.

“He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by family. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers and ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

Brandon’s daughter Savannah recently admitted she “never imagined” she would lose her father. The sad message posted on Instagram shared her pain. The 23-year-old, who is expecting her third child, wrote on the social media platform: “So far, 2025 has been a year full of ‘Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding.’

“As we’re ending Quarter 3 I’ve found myself looking back at all of the love and support my husband and I have had through the lows and heartbreak.

“Seeing my dad sick and losing him was something I never imagined or could have possibly prepared myself for, let alone young and pregnant.

“We have had an overwhelming amount of love and support poured onto us over the past 6 months and we are eternally grateful.”

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July 22 (UPI) — Suspect Raymond Boodarian allegedly used a firearm owned by victims Robin Kaye and Thomas Deluca to shoot and kill the couple inside their Encino, Calif., home on July 10.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman on Monday night said Boodarian, 22, used a gun owned by Kaye and Deluca to shoot and kill the couple and then called the police.

“Mr. Boodarian got caught because he used his cell phone to contact police concerning the situation [and] actually identified himself by name,” Hochman told attendees during a special meeting of the Encino Neighborhood Council.

“Police were able to ping the cell phone, find out where he lived, go to his residence and arrest him.”

Hochman said police found the gun used to kill the couple at the crime scene.

“The gun that was actually used in the murders wasn’t [Boodarian’s] gun,” Hochman told meeting attendees.

“It was a gun that he recovered from the actual house,” he added. “It was Robin’s and Tom’s gun.”

More than 100 Encino residents attended an Encino Neighborhood Council meeting to discuss the matter on Monday night, which Hochman addressed.

The residents were concerned that Boodarian was released from jail last year despite being suspected of battery, making threats and brandishing a weapon, ENC President Josh Sautter told NBC News.

A judge dismissed the case following a mental health evaluation of Boodarian.

Kaye and Deluca, both age 70, returned home on the evening of July 10 while Boodarian allegedly was inside to burglarize it, Hochman said.

Local police discovered the victims’ bodies while conducting a welfare check four days later on July 14.

Los Angeles Police arrested Boodarian on July 15 and said he is an Encino resident.

Boodarian is charged with two counts of murder during a robbery, one count of burglary, intentional use of a firearm and committing multiple murders.

He is being held without bail and has an arraignment hearing scheduled on Aug. 20 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, during which he could enter a plea.

Kaye was a music supervisor on the popular “American Idol” television show, and Deluca was a musician.

A 22-year-old man was charged Thursday with killing an “American Idol” music supervisor and her musician husband who walked into their Encino home during a burglary.

Raymond Boodarian is accused of fatally shooting Robin Kaye and her husband, Tom DeLuca, on July 10. Los Angeles police did not find their bodies until four days later, when officers were sent to the home for a welfare check.

Boodarian is charged with two counts of murder with enhancements for allegedly killing the couple during the commission of a robbery, intentionally using a firearm, and committing multiple murders. He is also charged with burglary.

During an initial court appearance in Van Nuys on Thursday afternoon, Boodarian was ordered to remain in jail. His arraignment was delayed until Aug. 20.

If convicted, Boodarian would face either life without parole or execution if prosecutors seek the death penalty.

According to police, officers visited the Encino home around the time Boodarian was believed to be inside.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a report of a possible break-in at 4 p.m. July 10 and determined that nothing appeared out of place at the couple’s residence, Lt. Guy Golan said.

Officers reported that the property was locked and no one responded inside, while a police helicopter from overhead reported not seeing anything suspicious.

Kaye and DeLuca’s bodies were discovered Monday when officers responded to a welfare check at the couple’s homes in the 4700 block of White Oak Avenue. The following day, officers with a joint LAPD-FBI task force arrested Boodarian.

According to police, Kaye, an “American Idol” music supervisor and her rock musician husband, DeLuca, were returning to their $4.5-million Encino home when they came upon Booderian.

Booderian allegedly shot Kaye and DeLuca multiple times then ran off, locking the door behind him. Though the couple’s house was well fortified, police said, the suspect had managed to get in through an unlocked door.

According to Golan, the department received a call at 4 p.m. the day the couple was killed and the caller described seeing a person climbing over a fence into the property. Golan said officers went to the home, but did not get any response and saw nothing out of place, and a helicopter was flown over the property because it was difficult to access.

By then, the couple had been killed, LAPD officials said. Boodarian left after about half an hour, police said.

The delay in finding Kaye and DeLuca’s bodies bore similarities to two other homicides in the Valley where police were called the location and did not immediately find a victim and left the scene.

Menashe Hidra’s body was found April 26 inside his fifth-floor Valley Village apartment after an assailant broke into a neighboring unit, jumped from the balcony to his unit and attacked him, investigators said.

Three days before, neighbors had called 911 and reported hearing shouting and a struggle coming from the apartment. Officers responded to those calls, knocked on the door and left without finding anything.

Erick Escamilla, 27, was charged with the killing, along with an unrelated homicide from 2022.

The same day that Hidra’s body was discovered, police found the body of Aleksandre Modebadze, who was beaten to death inside his Woodland Hills home.

In that case, a woman inside the home called LAPD about 12:30 a.m. and reported three people had broken into her home and were beating her significant other before the call suddenly cut out, according to law enforcement sources. The 911 operator tried to call back multiple times without success.

Shortly before 1 a.m., officers arrived at the home but no one answered the door, there was no noise coming from inside the home, and the blinds were down, the sources told The Times.

Modebadze was later found by officers badly beaten with a traumatic head injury and died of his injuries. Authorities arrested suspects hours after the attack.

In this Encino case, Golan said the department would investigate why the couple, who were both 70, were not found earlier and whether the officers involved acted appropriately. LAPD officials said the front door of the home was not visible from the outside during the initial response.

According to court records, Boodarian was charged in three instances of misdemeanor battery last year. Those charges were ultimately dropped a series of hearings related to his mental competency and a conservatorship investigation.

Veteran music supervisor Robin Kaye, best known for her lengthy tenure on “American Idol,” leaves behind a legacy of “light, kindness, and joy.”

Singer-songwriter and former “Idol” contestant Didi Benami in a Tuesday Instagram story praised Kaye as “one of the kindest souls I’ve ever had the privilege of working with” as she mourned the executive’s death. Kaye and her husband Tom Deluca are the victims of a double homicide that occurred in their Encino home, Los Angeles police announced Tuesday. They both died at age 70.

“Still in disbelief and trying to make sense of it all. My heart is broken. Some souls leave a light behind even after they’re gone,” Benami wrote in another Instagram post shared Wednesday. “Robin, you are so loved. Always will be. Honoring the light, kindness, and joy you brought into this world. May your memory— and the love you gave —never be forgotten.”

Vocal coach Benami, who competed on Season 9 of “Idol,” was among the musicians and music industry figures paying tribute on social media to Kaye and her contributions. Kaye served as a music supervisor on “American Idol” from 2009 to 2023 and contributed to nearly 300 episodes during her tenure.

In a statement shared with The Times on Tuesday, a spokesperson for “American Idol” described Kaye as a “cornerstone of the ‘Idol’ family” and said the production was “devastated” by news of her and Deluca’s deaths. “She was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her,” the statement added.

Randy Jackson, one of “American Idol’s” original trio of judges, echoed those sentiments on Instagram, writing on Tuesday that Kaye was a “dear friend to me and so many — judges, executives, contestants, publishers, writers, producers, and artists alike.” He posted a photo of himself with Kaye, noting in his caption that she “consistently went the extra mile, meticulously ensuring songs were placed and cleared for the show.”

“She was truly one of a kind,” he said.

In a call with The Times on Wednesday, longtime “Idol” music provider Brad Segal highlighted Kaye’s sympathetic nature, loyalty and her dedicated work ethic. “We all hope for that when you meet somebody,” he said. Segal said he met Kaye in the early aughts and had crossed paths with her over the years at other TV productions.

He praised Kaye’s wealth of “knowledge of all types of music” and he said she provided a comfortable working experience that helped set the foundation of their years-long collaborations on “Idol.” Segal told The Times that Kaye was accommodating to her collaborators, ranging from him to the contestants she worked with. Simply, “she cared.”

“She cared about what she did. She cared about being fair,” Segal said.

Kaye and Deluca are believed to have been killed after walking in on a burglary suspect inside their $4.5-million home Thursday, according to LAPD. The suspect — identified by homicide investigators as 22-year-old Encino resident Raymond Boodarian — is believed to have entered the heavily secured home through an unlocked door, police said. After the couple returned home, “a confrontation ensued, which resulted in the suspect taking their lives,” police said.

Their bodies were not discovered until officers responded Monday around 2:30 p.m. to a welfare check in the 4700 block of White Oak Avenue, where they discovered two people inside the home, LAPD Det. Meghan Aguilar said early Tuesday. Paramedics responded and declared the pair dead at the scene.

Boodarian was apprehended Tuesday without incident by LAPD and FBI task force officers, Los Angeles Police Lt. Guy Golan, said. The killings appeared to be random, Golan said, but investigators were looking for any connection between the suspect and Deluca and Kaye.

Times staff writer Richard Winton and deputy editor Joe Serna contributed to this report.

A SUSPECT has been arrested after American Idol music supervisor Robin Kaye and her husband were found dead in their home.

Robin and husband Thomas DeLuca, both 70, were found dead with gunshot wounds to their heads in their Los Angeles mansion on Monday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to The U.S. Sun.

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Now, police have arrested suspect Raymond Boodarian, 22, although the nature of his arrest is not yet clear.

Family members had called for a welfare check for the couple on Monday, July 14, after they hadn’t been heard from in four days, police said.

When cops arrived at their home in L.A.’s swanky Encino neighborhood, they found blood at the front entrance of the house, TMZ first reported.

Officers smashed a window to get inside, where they discovered the couple’s bodies.

They were both declared dead at the scene at around 2:30 pm.

Footage obtained by ABC affiliate KABC showed the home’s sliding glass door was shattered.

Neighbor Hannah Massachi, a local realtor, told The U.S. Sun locals are “very shaken” and desperate for answers.

“They were a lovely couple, I saw them a few months ago,” she said, adding, “Why would somebody do this?”

“I’ve lived here for over 30 years. Everyone is proud to live in Encino and all the celebrities are here, all the movie stars. I’ve sold many homes here,” she said.

Police had been called to the couple’s $5 million home just days earlier.

EERIE SCARE

On Thursday, a suspect tried to get into Kaye and Deluca’s house while possibly carrying a gun, residents told NBC affiliate KTLA.

The couple’s neighbors said they called police after someone saw a person hopping the fence.

“We didn’t see or hear anything. My renter called 911 on Thursday because she saw somebody hopping the fence,” neighbor Amee Faggen told KABC before the victims were identified.

“And I have no idea if that was related or not. They came and left, the helicopters and police came.”

It’s unclear if the two incidents are related.

POOL CLEANER SPEAKS OUT

Kaye and Deluca’s pool cleaner, Mauro Quintero, turned up at their home on Tuesday to get paid like usual, he told The U.S. Sun.

Instead, he found crime scene tape and learned they had been murdered.

He said Deluca recently told him about another attempted break-in over a month ago.

“Tom told me about a month ago that people tried to break in in the middle of the night,” Quintero, 55, said, adding that the intruders were scared off by the couple’s two small dogs barking.

“But they have little dogs and they woke him up and they ran off.”

He said the couple put up security cameras after the scare. There were also spikes on the fence surrounding the home.

“They were really nice people, the lady especially,” Quintero recalled.

“I only ever saw the two of them at the house.”

Law enforcement sources said they believe the shooting happened Thursday during a possible burglary at the house, reports NBC4 Washington.

Following their tragic deaths, a spokesperson for American Idol said: “We are devastated to hear of Robin and her dear husband, Tom’s, passing.

“Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her.

“Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.”

More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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“A Beautiful Noise” is a jukebox musical that understands the assignment.

The show, which opened Wednesday at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on the Broadway musical’s North American tour, exists to celebrate the rough magic of Neil Diamond’s catalog. If glorious singing of American pop gold is what you’re looking for, “A Beautiful Noise” delivers.

Diamond’s fans will no doubt feel remunerated by the thrilling vocal performance of Nick Fradiani, the 2015 winner of “American Idol,” who plays the young iteration of the double-cast Neil, the Brooklyn-born pop sensation who went on a rocket ship to fame and fortune that gave him everything in the world but the peace that had always eluded him. Fradiani vocally captures not just the driving excitement of Diamond’s singing but the note of masculine melancholy that gives the songs their grainy, ruminative subtext.

Hannah Jewel Kohn and Nick Fradiani play Marcia Murphey and the young version of the double-cast Neil Diamond, respectively.

(Jeremy Daniel)

Jukebox musicals, inspired perhaps by the commercial success of “Mamma Mia!,” tend to muscle an artist’s hits into flagrantly incongruous dramatic contexts. Anthony McCarten, the book writer of “A Beautiful Noise,” avoids this trap by setting up a framework that deepens our appreciation of Diamond’s music by shining a biographical light on how the songs came into existence.

The older version of , now the grizzled Diamond burnt out by tour life and desperate not to duplicate the mistakes he made in his first two marriages, is played by Robert Westenberg. He’s been sent by his third wife to a psychotherapist to work on himself. As he shares with the doctor (Lisa Reneé Pitts), he’s been told that he’s hard to live with — an accusation that his long, stubborn silences in the session make instantly credible.

Introspection is as unnatural to Neil as it was for Tony Soprano, but the doctor gently guides Neil past his resistance. Intrigued by his remark that he put everything he had to say into his music, she presents him with a volume of his collected lyrics and asks him to talk her through one of his songs.

Nick Fradiani, from left, Robert Westenberg and Lisa Reneé Pitts as both iterations of Neil and his doctor during an onstage therapy session.

(Jeremy Daniel)

“I Am … I Said,” which makes reference to a frog that dreamed of being a king before becoming one, cuts too close to the bone. That single will have to wait for a breakthrough in therapy, but he is lured back into his past when the Jewish boy from Flatbush talked his way into a meeting with Ellie Greenwich (Kate A. Mulligan), the famed songwriter and producer, who convinced him not to change his name and gave him the chance that set him down the road to stardom.

The production, directed by Michael Mayer and choreographed by Steven Hoggett, marks this therapy milestone by having backup singers and chorus members emerge from behind Neil’s chair. Out of darkness, musical euphoria shines through.

The show’s approach is largely chronological. “I’m A Believer,” which became a runaway hit for the Monkees, catapults Diamond into the big leagues. Once he starts singing his own material, he becomes a bona fide rock star — a moody Elvis who straddles rock, country, folk and pop with a hangdog bravura.

Neil’s first marriage to Jaye Posner (a touching Tiffany Tatreau) is an early casualty after he falls in love with Marcia Murphey (Hannah Jewel Kohn, spinning a seductive spell musically and dramatically). It’s Marcia who coaches him into playing the part of front man. The hits come fast and furious after that, but the frenzy of tour life exacts a severe toll.

Tiffany Tatreau as Diamond’s first wife Jaye Posner, from center left, Nick Fradiani and Kate A. Mulligan as singer-producer Ellie Greenwich in “A Beautiful Noise.”

(Jeremy Daniel)

Of course, everyone at the Pantages is waiting impatiently for “Sweet Caroline,” the anthem that never fails to transform into a sing-along after the first “bum-bum-bum.” The performance of this ecstatic number is powerfully mood-elevating.

Fradiani’s character work is most impressive in his singing. That’s when the inner trouble Neil has been evading since his Brooklyn childhood hauntingly resounds.

“America,” “A Beautiful Noise,” “Song Sung Blue,” “Love on the Rocks” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” songs heard countless times, take on more weight as the circumstances of their creation are revealed. The therapy gets a little heavy-handed in the protracted final stretch. But Westenberg, who’s a touch too emphatic early on, lends poignancy to the cathartic release that ushers Neil into a new place of self-understanding.

By keeping the focus where it should be — on the music — “A Beautiful Noise” thrives where more ambitious jukebox musicals stumble. This is a show for fans. But as the son of one who remembers the songs from family road trips, even though I have none of them in my music library, I was grooving to the sound of a bygone America, high on its own unlimited possibilities.

At the curtain call at Wednesday’s opening, Katie Diamond came on stage and video-called her husband as the Pantages audience collectively joined in an encore of “Sweet Caroline.” It wasn’t easy to hear Diamond sing, but it hardly mattered. Fradiani had supplied that dopamine rush for more than two hours with his virtuoso musical portrayal.