Blackshaw lives between London and Suffolk, and has three daughters. After the death of his wife of cancer, Blackshaw quit the concert hall for many years and returned to play in public in 2011-2012 performing a series of concerts of the complete Sonatas by Mozart[dead link][1][2]
He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to music.