Mindy McCready, 1975–2013
The tortured country singer who fell from fame
Mindy McCready lived the wild and tragic life that most country stars only sing about. In 2005 alone, she overdosed twice on drugs and alcohol, was arrested for drunk driving, and was viciously assaulted by her country singer boyfriend. She also attempted suicide and got pregnant. “I’ve been beaten, sued, robbed, arrested, jailed, and evicted. But I’m still here,” she wrote fans last year. “I’m down, but I’ll never be out.” This week, the 37-year-old took her own life on her front porch in Heber Springs, Ark.—the same spot where her boyfriend had killed himself a month earlier.
Malinda Gayle McCready had a rapid rise to fame, said the Fort Myers, Fla., News-Press. At age 18, she arrived in Nashville with tapes of her karaoke vocals, having been told by her mother that she’d have to come home to Fort Myers if she didn’t land a recording contract within a year. “McCready got her break.” She signed with BNA Records, and her debut album, 1996’s Ten Thousand Angels, sold 2 million copies. Her cocky, man-baiting single, “Guys Do It All the Time,” topped the chart that same year. “I can’t believe how fast this happened,” said McCready, then 20. “I feel like the Cinderella story of the century.”
But soon “she was spiraling downward,” said CNN.com. Her love life had been messy since her teenage affair with major league pitcher Roger Clemens, and as the hits dried up and romances fizzled, she abused substances. In 2004 McCready was placed on probation after pleading guilty to fraudulently obtaining the painkiller OxyContin, and in the years since then her life turned even darker. In January, she found David Wilson’s body at their Arkansas home, soon after he had apparently shot himself in the head. In interviews following the shooting, McCready called Wilson—with whom she had a 9-month-old son—her “soul mate,” and said she had “never gone through anything this painful,” said TheTennessean.com. “I just keep telling myself that the more suffering that I go through, the greater character I’ll have,” she said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
Mario Vargas Llosa: The novelist who lectured Latin America
Feature The Peruvian novelist wove tales of political corruption and moral compromise
By The Week US
-
Dame Maggie Smith: an intensely private national treasure
In the Spotlight Her mother told her she didn't have the looks to be an actor, but Smith went on to win awards and capture hearts
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK
-
James Earl Jones: classically trained actor who gave a voice to Darth Vader
In the Spotlight One of the most respected actors of his generation, Jones overcame a childhood stutter to become a 'towering' presence on stage and screen
By The Week UK
-
Michael Mosley obituary: television doctor whose work changed thousands of lives
In the Spotlight TV doctor was known for his popularisation of the 5:2 diet and his cheerful willingness to use himself as a guinea pig
By The Week UK
-
Morgan Spurlock: the filmmaker who shone a spotlight on McDonald's
In the Spotlight Spurlock rose to fame for his controversial documentary Super Size Me
By The Week UK
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
In the Spotlight Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
In the Spotlight The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia