US country singer Mindy McCready

She died from an "apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound", Arkansas sheriff Marty Moss said.

The troubled singer had attempted to take her own life twice before and was known to have problems with prescription drugs and alcohol, reports the BBC.

Her death comes weeks after that of her boyfriend and father of one of her two sons, record producer David Wilson, whose death is being investigated.

The singer recorded five studio albums.

NBC reporter Andrea Canning tweeted: "Just got a call from Mindy McCready's best friend that she shot and killed herself this evening."

Police said they had found the body of Malinda Gayle McCready on the front porch of her home in Heber Springs. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the death of her partner in January, McCready had told NBC's Dateline programme that she had "never gone through anything this painful.

"He didn't just touch my heart, he touched my soul."

She denied any involvement in Wilson's death.

Her two boys - a six-year-old and a nine-month-old - were removed from her home earlier this month when she was ordered to undergo rehabilitation.

She was discharged last week for outpatient treatment, but her sons remained in foster care.

McCready had been arrested several times on drug charges. She also made headlines for claiming to have had a 10-year affair with former baseball star Roger Clemens that began when she was a teenager.