Born in Fort Myers, Florida, on Nov. 30, 1975, McCready began singing in church at the age of 3. She moved to Nashville when she was 18 in hopes of becoming a singer. McCready recorded her debut album, Ten Thousand Angels, in 1996.

In 1999, McCready released I'm Not So Tough, but the album was not commercially successful, and her record company dropped her. She signed with Capitol Records, but her 2002 album also had disappointing sales, so she was subsequently dropped.

In August 2004, McCready was arrested for using a fake prescription to obtain OxyContin. She pleaded guilty. Later that year, she was arrested for a DUI. She was found not guilty by a jury for drinking and driving, but was found guilty for driving with a suspended license.

In 2005, McCready's ex-boyfriend Billy McKnight was arrested for breaking into her home and then beating and choking her. In July of that year, she was found passed out in a lobby in a hotel in Florida after attempting suicide.

In September, when she was pregnant with McKnight's child, she attempted suicide again by overdosing on antidepressants. On March 25, 2006, McCready gave birth to her first son, Zander Ryan McCready.

The trouble continued: In 2007 she was sentenced to one year in jail after a fight with her mother in Fort Myers, Florida. The next year, McCready's parents gained custody of Zander.