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Mindy McCready’s Suicide Saddens Music Biz: ‘I Hope That People Are Gentle With Her Memory’

By Kim LaCapria
Published on: 02:12 PST, Feb 18, 2013

Mindy McCready’s suicide at the age of 37 came as a shock last night as the news spread across the web, and as the sad confirmation sinks in, celebrities and those who knew the troubled singer have reacted to her death.

Mindy McCready’s suicide comes just a month after the death of her fiance David Wilson, and following custody troubles the singer had involving her two sons, six-year-old Zander and 9-month-old Zayne. On February 6, the two boys were removed from McCready’s care just weeks after Wilson died — a death in which circumstances are still being investigated.

Us spoke to some country music biz people following Mindy McCready’s suicide, and the sad ending to the singer’s woes is evident as many recall a woman who, despite fame, was sincere and kind by all accounts — and deserving of a far better fate than that that befell her. Storme Wilson hosts Headline Country on GAC and The Highway on SiriusXM, and he spoke highly to the mag not only of McCready’s talent, but his hopes she was getting on the right track in recent months.

Wilson says of McCready’s suicide and the woman he knew early on in her career:

“I first met Mindy in 1995, shortly before she launched her double-platinum debut album Ten Thousand Angels. As we became friends I was amazed not only by her talent but her infectious care-free confidence. As the years passed, it became obvious that that confident facade masked a very troubled soul.”

He adds:

“I had great optimism last year when she made steps toward healthy personal choices and a potential career comeback. Needless to say, I’m very saddened by her death. My prayers go out to her children and the rest of her family and friends.”

Lisa D’Amato knew Mindy McCready from VH1’s Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew and she tells the mag that not only is she saddened by the country singer’s sudden death — but that McCready’s suicide is just the latest in a string of early passings of former castmates:

“She was my friend. She has an amazing sense of humor and great spirit. But she’s also a pro at seeming just fine at the surface but she has a lot of demons. Half my cast from Celebrity Rehab are dead. I’m devastated.”

Perhaps most telling about McCready’s legacy is that despite her recent string of troubles, no one can seem to muster up a single bad thing to say about her, expressing only grief at the loss of someone young and talented.

In the course of a discussion of Mindy McCready’s suicide on Facebook, a young relative of mine admitted that she had worked with McCready a decade ago after college. Of her experience with the star as a non-celebrity, she says:

“I worked with her closely at my first ‘real’ job, in 2004. She was lovely, and one of the only people, celebrity or not, who I worked with in the music industry who always knew everyone’s name, and legitimately cared about us and our well being. This, like all the news about her, has made me so sad. She had her problems, yes, but she was a great person before they consumed her.”

On Twitter, Mindy McCready’s suicide has clearly rocked the country world, with some condolence tweets from big names:

And perhaps the most moving, from Chely Wright:

Were you a fan of Mindy McCready before her tragic death?

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