Troubled country star Mindy McCready has died at the age of 37. Authorities say she shot herself on her front porch in Heber Springs, Arkansas. The same porch where her long-time boyfriend and father of her 10-month-old son reportedly took his own life just a few weeks ago.

McCready broke out in 1996, when her hit "Guys Do It All The Time" reached number one on the charts.

More recently, McCready fought a very public battle with addiction and mental illness.

BACKGROUND: Mindy McCready 101

Things took a dark turn for McCready in 2007, when she was arrested for violating probation on a drug charge. Her mom was appointed legal guardian of her older son Zander.

In 2010, she was trying to turn things around on Dr. Drew Pinsky's Celebrity Rehab.

Pinsky tells HLN the last time he spoke to McCready was last month, just after the suicide of her longtime boyfriend and father of her youngest son.

"When I heard she was struggling, I did reach out to her and urged her to go to take care of herself, get in a facility if she felt she needed," said Pinsky. "Her biggest fear was the stigma of doing so and what people would think if she, God forbid, took care of herself. And this to me is the most distressing part of this story. She is a lovely woman, we have lost her, and it didn't have to go down like this."

In 2011 McCready got in trouble again when she didn't return Zander to her mom after a visit. Authorities found McCready hiding with Zander in her closet. He was placed in foster care.

KEEP READING: Mindy McCready and son found in a closet

Last year the, singer posted snippets of a "future book" about her life on her blog. In one excerpt she says, "I’m a fighter. I’m down, but I’ll never be out."

Just last month, McCready's boyfriend, record producer David Wilson, died of an apparent suicide.

Authorities from the Cleburne County Sheriffs department found McCready's body on her front porch Sunday afternoon. They were responding to a report of shots fired. Her wound appeared to be self-inflicted.

HLN's Nichelle Turner will have updates on Morning Express with Robin Meade.

TIMELINE: The long, tortured journey of Mindy McCready