Old friends turn out for Mindy McCready memorial

Lorrie Morgan sings "Ave Maria" during a memorial service for fellow country singer Mindy McCready on Wednesday, March 6, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn. / AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Mindy McCready's time in Nashville was filled with music, and her memorial service in Music City reflected that.

Old friends Bryan White, Lorrie Morgan and Bekka Bramlett sang for McCready and family members spoke about her difficulties and triumphs during the hour-long remembrance Wednesday at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

"She achieved many of her dreams with No. 1 records and fame," said singer Lorrie Morgan, a former label mate of McCready's. "But we all know fame and fortune do not ensure happiness."

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Mindy McCready: 1975-2013

The Nashville memorial attended by about 200 comes two weeks after her funeral in her hometown of Fort Myers, Fla.

McCready shot herself last month on the front porch of the home she once shared with her fiance, David Wilson, in Heber Springs, Ark., authorities have said. That's the same spot where Wilson, the father of her second son, committed suicide a month earlier.

Authorities continue to investigate both deaths.

• Country crooner Mindy McCready dies at 37
• Mindy McCready funeral held in southwest Florida

The 37-year-old, who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and endured a series of failed and sometimes abusive relationships, had suffered a series of recent setbacks as well. She'd lost custody of her sons and checked out of a court-ordered substance abuse rehabilitation program in the days before her death.

A pair of McCready's cousins spoke for the singer's family. Ashley Webb read a letter from McCready's father, Tim, who said he watched his daughter deteriorate every day in the weeks after Wilson's death. Another cousin, Tristan White, said McCready "was passionate in everything she did. Sometimes that passion got her in trouble."

White also thanked a list of friends who went "above and beyond" for McCready, including Dr. Drew Pinsky, the "Celeb Rehab" host who attempted to help McCready and reached out to her in the days after Wilson's death. Pinsky has been criticized because five "Celeb Rehab" alumni have died since appearing on the show.

"All these people are people who made a huge impact on Mindy's life," White said.

McCready's former producer Jimmy Nichols, who helped guide her to the biggest successes of her singing career in the mid-to late-1990s, said he'd heard from McCready in the days before her death. She was seeking help with a song she wanted to put out in an attempt to restart her career. She sadly told him all she really wanted was her children back.

"I love you, Mindy. Rest well," he said. "You have so many angels guarding your soul tonight."

[canna1967]

That is right... If it were my daughter I would of been there for her and walked her through the hard times.

Some Mothers are so jealous of their daughter till it tips us over the scale.

I have been so hurt by my mother till I have talked myself out of sucide so many times.

People need to think that what they are doing to each other could hurt really bad and cause the unthinkable.

Why she still had a gun... God only knows. This could of been stopped but everyone is so easy to judge each other.. instead of helping

[Sydonia56]

That is a pretty big assumption. Maybe if she would have had hers kids with her and someone there for supervision, this may not have happened. Why would anyone that loved her leave her alone with a weapon in the house where her boyfriend had just committed suicide? Her boyfriend killed himself, her kids were taken and she was at her all time low in her life, alone. Sitting with their dog looking at the spot he took his life, overwhelmed with grief of loosing him to death and her children to foster care. It sounds more like she had lost all hope in life, desperate people do desperate things when they feel like they are alone in this world. It's something we will never understand and very sad for the two children left behind to deal with the reality of what happened that day.

[nosnobs]

Noone could help her? GEEZ. If that were my daughter, I would have been right with her.

[sawmillworker1963]

Thank God her kid's were in foster care are they would of met the same fate as her dog.