Born Malinda Gayle McCready in Fort Myers, Florida, McCready began singing in her local Pentecostal church at age 3[5] and graduated from high school at the age of 16 to begin her music career early.

Her debut album, Ten Thousand Angels, was released in 1996 and sold two million copies.

This song, in turn, was succeeded by "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now", a duet with Richie McDonald, then the lead vocalist of Lonestar.

[6] In 1997, she was nominated for Top New Female Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards, but lost to LeAnn Rimes.

[12] She later discussed her recovery and possible studio work with Todd Gaither on a March 2010 episode of The View.

She also appeared on the December 9, 2011, episode of 20/20, where she discussed her son Zander, her producer boyfriend David Wilson, and new music.

[7][16] After reporting to People magazine that she had cut ties with McKnight, McCready was found unconscious in a hotel lobby in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, after attempting suicide in July 2005.

[19] On December 17, 2008, paramedics were called to McCready's Nashville home after an apparent suicide attempt; they transported her to a hospital after finding wounds on her wrists.

[21] On May 25, 2010, McCready was hospitalized in Cape Coral, Florida, for a possible drug overdose; she may have had a reaction to Darvocet her mother had given her.

[23] A pornographic videotape of McCready and an ex-boyfriend referred to as "Peter"[24] went on sale by Vivid Entertainment in 2010.

[26] The child's father, record producer David Wilson, was found dead on January 13, 2013, at McCready's home, of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

[29] In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported a possible long-term relationship between McCready and baseball star Roger Clemens that began when she was 15.

[30] Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend."

[32] In August 2004, McCready was arrested in Tennessee for using a fake prescription to buy the painkiller OxyContin.

Although she initially denied the charge, she pleaded guilty and was fined US$4,000 (equivalent to $6,500 in 2023), sentenced to three years of probation, and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

[47] On February 17, 2013, McCready's neighbors called the Sheriff's Office of Cleburne County, Arkansas, reporting gunshots.

McCready was found dead on her front porch from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the same place where David Wilson, her former boyfriend and the father of her younger son, had fatally shot himself one month prior.