Ty Herndon’s Mother Bought Him a Coffin, Paid for His Funeral After Drug Relapse
Ty Herndon is set to release his brand-new album, Jacob, on July 15, and prior to the release, the singer has been getting real about his past struggles, including a longtime crystal meth addiction. In a revealing new interview with People, Herndon shares raw details about the addiction that accompanied his lightning rise in country music, sharing that at one of his lowest points, his mother pre-arranged his funeral.
Not long after the release of his debut hit "What Mattered Most" in 1995, Herndon was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, for indecent exposure. Herndon had been using meth off and on for years prior to his arrest, and the event preceded a long journey of working to heal from his addiction, which has been a nearly three-decade struggle.
"Crystal meth has been a pandemic of my soul," Herndon tells People. "It's been a destruction of my brain. It's given me some of the ugliest nightmares that I could never even describe."
Herndon moved to Los Angeles following his arrest, which is where he says he reached one of his lowest points in his crystal meth struggle. In 2004, the singer relapsed, and even his family and friends couldn't pull him out of his despair.
"My soul flat-lined," Herndon says. "I was a whiff of a person that no one recognized. My friends, everyone, they could not get through to me. I might as well have been wrapped in duct tape."
"I lost months of my life and never left the house," he adds.
Herndon's addiction got so bad that his mother accepted the fact that she might lose her son. The singer reveals that his mom actually planned for his funeral, and she showed up at his house to tell him in person.
"She wanted me to know she had bought my coffin," he relates. "She'd paid for my funeral. She said, 'Son, this is goodbye. Nobody in your family wants anything to do with you anymore. You should at least have that peace of mind, that you will be buried by your father and that's where you're headed. And I love you.' She kissed me on the cheek. She hugged me tightly and she left and she flew back home."
Herndon's friends had also mostly given up hope that he would overcome his addiction. Herndon says that one of his friends reached out with a stark choice.
"A friend came over and she said, 'Look, man. Get a gun, end it. Or, I want you to know that I've paid for your rehab. I wrote a check. It's paid for. Cumberland Heights, Nashville, Tennessee, you need to go home. You need to die or go home. Either way, you're going home,'" he shares. "I got on the plane and I came home."
After that rehab stint, Herndon remained sober until a 2020 relapse that resulted in a near-suicide attempt. Herndon talks about that and more in People's latest issue.