Mindy McCready Remembered at Nashville Memorial Service
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Frederick Breedon/WireImage(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Former country star Mindy McCready was remembered with a small memorial service in Nashville Wednesday evening.
A little more than a hundred friends, family members and music industry colleagues gathered at The Cathedral of the Incarnation near Music Row to share music and memories of McCready, who took her life on Feb. 17 after years of public struggle.
Though McCready was celebrated by one childhood friend, Tristan White, as, “a woman who stole the show and was the life of the party,” the demons that ultimately led to her suicide couldn’t be ignored.
White read a letter from McCready’s father, Tim McCready, who was too emotional to attend the service.
In the letter, he remembered his daughter’s talents but lamented her poor life choices. He also stressed that his daughter’s two young sons were her love, and that she was in love with her late fiancé David Wilson.
Wilson was found dead in January in the same Arkansas home where Mindy took her life. Wilson’s death is still under investigation.
McCready’s friend and former label mate Lorrie Morgan remembered their camaraderie back in the ’90s. Morgan spoke of the music and heartache she and McCready had in common and said she always “felt young and had fun” with McCready at their record label parties.
Morgan also spoke of the sadness McCready always had in her eyes. She wondered aloud if anything could have really made McCready happy, and closed by saying, “There’s a special place for her star above, and it will always be there and it will never burn out.”
Lorrie Morgan also sang “Ave Maria” at the service. A ’90s hitmaker, Bryan White, and McCready’s friend Bekka Bramlett performed too. McCready’s recording of the Garth Brooks hit “The Dance” was played to close the service.
McCready’s funeral was held last week in her hometown of Fort Myers, Fla.
Her mother, Gayle Inge, attended both the funeral and Wednesday’s memorial service.
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