Teddi Mellencamp Says Brandon Blackstock’s Death ‘Hit Me Hard’

Teddi Mellencamp is reflecting on Brandon Blackstock’s death on her “Two Ts in a Pod” podcast.

Brandon, 48, passed away after a three-year battle with melanoma, the same cancer Teddi, 44, has fought for years.

Mellencamp revealed earlier this year she is stage 4, and her cancer metastasized to her brain and lungs.

She told co-host Tamra Judge, "The Brandon Blackstock story really hit me hard this week. I wish I would have missed that little detail in the World Wide Web because then I started doing research and they were so quiet about what... I mean, we know he passed from melanoma. They announced that."

Teddi continued, "I was wondering, one, 'Did it metastasize?' Two — like, this is just where my head goes from being in the situation — 'Did he decline treatment?' Three, 'There's so many different ways that this could have happened.'"

While Mellencamp chose to publicly share her journey, she said, "I have one million [percent] respect for their choice to keep it private."

Tamra mentioned maybe Teddi could reach out to Brandon’s ex-wife Kelly Clarkson, but Teddi replied, "You have to understand everybody's different. Maybe he did treatment, maybe he didn't do treatment. Maybe he did immunotherapy? Maybe he did chemotherapy? We don't know."

She went on, "But those kind of stories hit you hard when it directly sounds similar to something that you're going through."

“Extra” caught up with Teddi in April, and she shared, “Today is a good day. I think what I’ve learned through all of this is some days, I’m gonna feel great… Some days, I’m not… Everybody’s journey’s different.”

Mellencamp opened up about how she remains positive during this difficult time, saying, “I would say a big thing has been all of the people messaging me saying, ‘I went and got checked because of you,’ or, ‘My doctor only had me get this checked, and then I said, no, you should also do this.’”

She went on, “What we have to remember is my cancer was skin cancer… I had skin cancer, melanoma, on my back. This metastasized, which is still a form of melanoma, but into my brain, into my lungs. I have, you know, before I had them removed, I had four plum-sized melanomas in my brain, and I hadn't gotten a CAT scan. But I had gone and gotten my skin checked every three months."

Teddi has shared she has a 50/50 chance of beating the disease. She has a good outlook, though, and told us, “I feel like in my heart of hearts, I’m going to beat it.”