Mindy McCready is the latest in the long list of celebrities whose young life ended in tragedy after a long battle with substance abuse and personal issues. Tragically, the troubled 37 year old country singer took her own life on February 17, 2013, leaving behind two young sons.

The Early Years

Malinda Gayle McCready was born on November 30, 1975 in Fort Myers, Florida. By the age of three, Mindy was already performing at her local Pentacostal church. At the age of nine, Mindy took an interest in opera and began training with a retired professor from Juilliard. However, being a big fan of Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood, Mindy later decided that her true calling was country music and made the decision to pursue a professional singing career.

This decision prompted McCready to make a move to Nashville after graduating high school. The decision proved to be a wise one, as Mindy was signed with BNA Records at the tender age of seventeen, with her first album being released in 1996. A double platinum success, Ten Thousand Angels spawned the popular country hits, the title track “Ten Thousand Angels”, and “Guys Do It All The Time“. McCready now found herself on top of the world, with a successful debut album, and opening for country greats such as George Strait and Tim McGraw.

Unfortunately, McCready’s chart topping success didn’t continue with her next album releases, with her second album from 1997 only reaching gold status, and the third album from 1999 falling victim to poor sales. This resulted in Mindy being dropped from the BNA label. She went on to sign with Capitol Records, releasing a self titled 2002 album that also sold poorly. Facing yet another career disappointment, Mindy was then dropped from the Capitol label.

Personal Problems Take Over

Even though Mindy’s career had taken some severe blows, there were even bigger issues going on in her personal life. The year 2004 resulted in an arrest for McCready after she had been caught using phony prescriptions to obtain OxyContin, a narcotic. With this came a hefty fine of $4,000, as well as three years of probation. Even after this incident, the troubles were not over, as 2005 brought with it another arrest for driving with a suspended license while under the influence.

Drugs, alcohol, and brushes with the law were not her only issues. Mindy’s personal life was in turmoil when she was nearly beaten and nearly choked to death by her on and off abusive boyfriend, Billy McKnight, who was placed under arrest for the incident. McCready later admitted this was not the first episode of physical abuse she had endured at McKnight’s hand, but even after obtaining a restraining order against him, Mindy violated it in order to leave the state to visit McKnight.

In 2005, more troubles with the law over charges of identity theft, hindering prosecution, and unlawful imprisonment plagued the troubled singer, resulting in two suicide attempts that year. On the first attempt, McCready was found unconscious in a lobby of a hotel, and later that year was hospitalized for overdosing on antidepressants in her second attempt at suicide.

Troubles With Men

Mindy became pregnant by Billy McKnight, the man who abused her, claiming she still loved him and could not stay away. Their son, Zander, was born in March of 2006. Because of her previous violations of her probation, even motherhood didn’t take away her legal problems and she served 30 days in jail after the birth of her son.

In 2008, her long term affair with a married baseball player, Roger Clemens, broke in the news, causing scandal. More scandal surfaced for McCready in 2010, when a sex tape of her with an old boyfriend was released.
With all of this, and the fact that a Florida judge would not grant her an emergency order to regain custody of her son, who was in the custody of her mother, Mindy once again attempted suicide by overdose.

Trying To Deal With It All

McCready made a public attempt to get her life back together by appearing on the third season of Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew. Mindy also believed she has found her soul mate in music producer David Wilson, with whom she had a second son, Zayne, in April of 2012. However, McCready’s happiness with Wilson would be short lived due to his suicide in January of 2013 after only two years together.

The Breaking Point

After losing Wilson, family members expressed concern for Mindy. Her children were removed from her care after a judge had ordered an evaluation for alcohol abuse and mental health. Apparently, after the years of dealing with an abusive boyfriend, a scandalous affair, the embarrassment of the sex tape, various arrests, drug and alcohol issues, suicide attempts, and the death of her soul mate, and now having her children taken from her, Mindy McCready became the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The Life, Death, and Legacy of Mindy McCready

At the age of 37, McCready was discovered dead on her front porch, a mere five weeks after the death of her youngest son’s father. McCready leaves behind two young sons, one of whom is now an orphan before the age of one. She leaves behind the reminders of how a troubled past can hamper future happiness, and of how even the most successful people have inner demons that can get the best of them.

McCready will always be remembered for her powerful country singing voice and her popular hits, as well as for her personal problems. The life, death, and legacy of Mindy McCready, is a life filled with turmoil that ended way too soon and leaves two young sons without their mother.

Guys Do It All The Time – Music Video