Troubled Country Music Star Attempts Suicide
Domestic Violence, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Haunt Singer Mindy McCready
Dec 18, 2008
Country singer Mindy McCready, whose MySpace Web page features a video message to fans about her most recent single, I'm Still Here, and her plans for a career comeback, was rushed to Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 17, 2008, after paramedics responded to a 911 call from a friend.
According to a story posted by eonline.com, the Metropolitan (Nashville) Police Department's incident report indicated that Timothy McCready, brother of the troubled country star, "discovered that she had cut her wrists and taken several pills" early Wednesday, Dec. 17, after he looked in on his sister.
Family, Friends Act Fast to Prevent Country Singer's Suicide
Reportedly, the singer's brother indicated that Gayle Inge, mother of Timothy and Mindy, had asked him to check on Mindy after she received "a disturbing" telephone call from her daughter. Allegedly, Mindy had returned home "very drunk" on the morning of Dec. 17 after a night of drinking in downtown Nashville, and then called her mother.
Nashville PD spokeswoman Kris Mumford, in a Dec. 17 online article in the New York Daily News, said, "We responded to a '10-63,' that's a suicidal person call. Mindy McCready was at the house. Apparently she called the mother of her roommate and said some things that caused the mother concern. She called authorities. We responded with paramedics, who took her to a local hospital."
Following her transport to the hospital, one unidentified source told the Daily News that McCready "severed a tendon in her left arm, that required immediate surgery." Most recently, The Associated Press reported that Centennial Medical Center spokeswoman Jenny Barker, on Thursday, Dec. 18, confirmed that McCready, who was hospitalized Wednesday, remained in stable condition.
High-Profile Affair with Roger Clemens, Domestic Violence, Depression and Drug & Alcohol Abuse
McCready, who celebrated her 33rd birthday Nov. 30, has encountered her fair share of trouble and heartache in recent years, including the April 2008 confirmation that she had been in a decade-long relationship with Roger Clemens, a former Red Sox and Yankee baseball player, who was married throughout the affair that began in 1991. News of their relationship came out when Clemens, under investigation by the FBI for perjuring himself before Congress, admitted the affair last spring. McCready, under intense media scrutiny, tearfully confirmed the affair the following day.
Tragically, the Dec. 17 incident isn't McCready's first brush with attempted suicide, according to eonline.com, which reported she was also hospitalized in 2005 after swallowing "a near-fatal dose of pills, chased with wine" and she overdosed "on drugs and alcohol" as recently as last July, a move that landed her in the emergency room of Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center. (McCready's abusive relationship with ex-boyfriend Billy McKnight, who was arrested and charged with attempted murder after beating and choking McCready, is well documented and cited as the root of her prior suicide attempts. She gave birth to their son and her only child, Zander Ryan McCready, in 2006.)
Embattled Country Artist Spends Time in Rehabilitation, Nashville Jail
Last summer, following her trip to Vanderbilt, the troubled country star reportedly suffered "a nervous breakdown" and spent time at a Hunt, Texas, rehabilitation facility. She also was sentenced to serve a 60-day jail term for a probation violation linked to a 2004 prescription-fraud conviction. She served 31 days of the sentence in a Nashville jail before being released, and from the experience, she penned her most recent I'm Still Here single, which was released in May and is now available for free download, courtesy of Denver-based Iconic Records, as a gift to her fans.
In a Feb. 11, 2008, post-jail blog, McCready shared, "I have had time to reflect on my past and I look forward to a brighter future. I am very happy to be back among the free world. ... I am very fortunate to have been presented a number of great opportunities to do my best to take advantage of. What I am going to do now is put my head down and do my very best to make the most of those opportunities. ..."
Hit-Song History: Mindy McCready Scored Country Radio Play & Country Music Fans
Born Malinda Gayle "Mindy" McCready in Fort Meyers, Fla., the one-time karaoke singer's success at country radio began with her 1996 album debut, Ten Thousand Angels, on BNA Records. The CD sold more than 2 million copies and yielded big hits, including the No. 6-ranked title track and Guys Do It All the Time, a No. 1 single. Her follow-up album, 1997's If I Don't Stay the Night, was certified gold. But when her 1999 disc, I'm Not So Tough, proved commercially unsuccessful, she was dropped by BNA. She went on to cut a fourth album, a self-titled effort in 2002 for Capitol Records, marking the last time she broke into the top 50 on Billboard.
Sources
Associated Press. Police: Suicide try hospitalizes Mindy McCready. Accessed Dec. 18, 2008, at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081218/ap_en_ot/people_mindy_mccready
Heldman, Breanne L. and Finn, Natalie. Mindy McCready Hospitalized for Psych Eval After Suicide Attempt, posted Dec. 17, 2008 at www.eonline.com
Mindy McCready, Official MySpace page. Accessed Dec. 17, 2008, at http://www.myspace.com/officialmindymccready
Mindy McCready, Wikipedia entry. Accessed Dec. 17, 2008.
O'Keefe, Michael and Red, Christian. Singer Mindy McCready, who had affair with former Yankee Roger Clemens, apparently attempted suicide, New York Daily News, posted Dec. 17, 2008, at http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/12/17/2008-12-17_singer_mindy_mccready_who_had_affair_wit.html.
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