County Sheriff: Famous Country Music Singer Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

In this undated file photo, country singer Mindy McCready performs in Nashville, Tenn. McCready, who hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career, died Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. She was 37. (Photo: AP)

(TheBlaze/AP) -- Mindy McCready, who hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career, died Sunday. She was 37.

Waren Olmstead, the coroner in Cleburne County, Ark., said McCready passed away in Heber Springs, but couldn't immediately provide further details.

The Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office added, according to Fox8:

“At 3:31 PM, Sunday, February 17th, deputies from the Cleburne County (Ark.) Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a report of gun shots fired in the area of 1132 Fox Chase Drive in Heber Springs. Officers arrived on the scene at 3:58 PM and discovered the body of 37 year old Melinda Gayle McCready on the front porch of the residence at 1132 Fox Chase. Ms. McCready was pronounced dead at the scene from what appears to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound...

McCready arrived in Nashville in 1994 with tapes of her karaoke vocals and earned a recording contract with BNA Records.  In 1996, her song "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1, and its dig at male chauvinism endeared her to women nationwide. Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels," also in 1996, and her album by that title sold 2 million copies.

Here's the music video for "Guys Do It All the Time":

Personal problems began plaguing McCready in 2004, resulting in a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons.  The singer took her older son Zander from her mother and the boy's legal guardian, Gayle Inge, in late 2011, according to the Associated Press. She fled to Arkansas without permission over what she called child abuse fears. Authorities eventually found McCready hiding in a residence without permission and took the boy into custody.

That same year, she was charged with obtaining the painkiller OxyContin fraudulently at a pharmacy. She pleaded guilty and was placed on three years' probation.  A year later, she violated the probation and was arrested for drunk driving, attempting suicide soon after.  In 2008, she tried to kill herself again by slitting her wrists.

It was also reported in 2008 that McCready was involved in a long-running affair with baseball star Roger Clemens.

In this CD cover image released by Iconic Records, Mindy McCready's, "I'm Still Here" is shown. (Photo: AP)

In May 2010, after being hospitalized for overdosing, McCready appeared on "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," declaring herself clean from drugs.  But after her boyfriend David Wilson died roughly a month ago, she reportedly collapsed into a downward spiral.

"Since boyfriend shot himself she has been in bed for 3 wks," her father said in court documents according to E! News. "Sleeps all day. Drinks all night and is taking Rx drugs. Not bathing or even helping take care of her 2 children."

Her children are 6 years old and 9 months old, respectively.  Wilson was the father of the youngest.  E! News adds that her father had been staying with her, but returned home this morning.

"She was in good spirits and seemed to be fine" when he left, a source said.

The county sheriff's office says there will be a complete investigation into the matter.

Yahoo! News released this report after the death of McCready's boyfriend: