{"id":2067837,"date":"2026-07-29T18:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2067837"},"modified":"2026-07-29T18:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:32:11","slug":"trace-adkins-explains-why-he-forgives-his-ex-wife-for-shooting-nearly-killing-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2067837","title":{"rendered":"Trace Adkins Explains Why He Forgives His Ex-Wife for Shooting & Nearly Killing Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/trace-adkins-theo-von-podcast-screenshot-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tTrace Adkins doesn\u2019t hold a grudge against his second wife, Julie Curtis, even after she shot him during a 1994 argument, nearly taking his life.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTrace Adkins Defends Morgan Wallen & Jason Aldean Against \u2018Grievance Junkies\u2019 on Bill Maher Podcast: \u2018They\u2019re Not\u00a0Racist\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\u2018A Capitol Fourth\u2019 Celebrates America\u2019s 250th a Day Early: Which Artists Are Playing This Year\u2019s PBS\u00a0Special?\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTrace Adkins Talks Collaborating With Melissa Etheridge and Blake Shelton and Emulating Ronnie Milsap on New\u00a0Album\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tIn an appearance on Theo Von\u2019s This Past Weekend <\/em>podcast posted Tuesday (July 28), the country icon reflected on the conflict that ended with Curtis shooting him at point-blank range. \u201cYeah, that took it a little far, I thought,\u201d he joked at first. \u201cThat was totally uncalled for. Just leave. Let\u2019s just call it quits, we don\u2019t have to go that far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen asked whether his ex-wife intended to seriously harm him when she fired at him, Adkins continued, \u201cI don\u2019t think so \u2026 I\u2019d never seen her hold a gun, I\u2019d never seen her shoot a gun. I knew she had one, but I\u2019d never seen her use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think she knew what was about to happen when she pulled that trigger,\u201d he continued, also noting that he had \u201ca bunch of guns\u201d in his possession at the time, and still does. \u201cShe thought it was a toy. She was mad, yeah. Wanted me to leave, and I wouldn\u2019t leave. She put it under my left arm, and the bullet came out of my right arm, so it went straight through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdkins recalled how doctors told him that the only reason he survived was Curtis\u2019 close proximity to him in the moment she fired what he called a \u201ckill shot,\u201d preventing the bullet from gaining enough velocity to mushroom. The aftermath was still harrowing, with the CMA Award winner explaining that he needed emergency trauma surgery to save his life immediately after the shooting, as well as a follow-up open heart surgery six months later to repair the organ\u2019s septum after it didn\u2019t heal properly.<\/p>\n

\n\tNonetheless, Adkins doesn\u2019t hold any ill will toward Curtis, against whom he chose not to press charges. \u201cOh, yeah,\u201d he said when Von asked whether the musician had forgiven his former spouse. \u201cI just always felt \u2026 she didn\u2019t mean to do it, man. She thought I was indestructible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNow married to Canadian actress Victoria Pratt since 2019, Adkins has had four wives over the course of his adult life. His first marriage was to Barbara Lewis \u2014 with whom he shares daughters Tarah and Sarah \u2014 after which he was wed to Curtis from 1991 to 1994, according to People<\/em>. He and his third wife, music industry consultant Rhonda Forlaw, tied the knot in 1997 and welcomed three daughters together \u2014 Mackenzie, Brianna and Trinity \u2014 before splitting in 2014.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdkins has notched 20 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 to date as well as 37 songs on the Hot Country Songs chart, where four of his hits have reached No. 1.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch Adkins\u2019 full interview above.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/trace-adkins-forgives-ex-wife-shooting-nearly-killing-him-1236305396\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/trace-adkins-theo-von-podcast-screenshot-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Trace Adkins doesn\u2019t hold a grudge against his second wife, Julie Curtis, even after she shot him during a 1994 argument, nearly taking his life. Related Trace Adkins Defends Morgan Wallen & Jason Aldean Against \u2018Grievance Junkies\u2019 on Bill Maher Podcast: \u2018They\u2019re Not\u00a0Racist\u2019 \u2018A Capitol Fourth\u2019 Celebrates America\u2019s 250th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2067837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2067837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2067837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2067837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2067837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}