NEWS BLOG (WSAU) You’ll hear the phrase “too soon” associated with Mindy McCreedy over the next few days. 37-years-old is too soon for a life to end.

“Too soon” also applies to people who are too young to have fame, fortune, and stardom pushed upon them. She left high school at 16 to pursue her music career. Her number-1 song ‘Guys Do It All The Time’ topped the charts when she was 18-years-old. Her career would never reach those heights again.

She’d been dropped by two record labels in the years that followed. Her personal life would make far more headlines than her recordings over the next decade. Future comback albums failed. Her more recent releases were distributed by her own web site -- no label would touch her. She was infamous for her bad choices with men and for admitted problems with booze and drugs.

For every Taylor Swift, who seems to be well-prepared for success at an early age, there are many, many more Mindy McCreedys who crash and burn. The saddest part is that someone with her talent never needs to be down and out; she could have toured the casino and secondary-show circuit for as long as she wanted (and made good money at it) if she could have put her demons behind her.

On Sunday Mindy McCreedy was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the front porch of her home in Arkansas. It was the same porch were the ex-boyfriend, David Wilson, took his life a little more than a month ago.

Chris Conley
2.18.13