Why Billy Strings’ Revelations About Mother’s Death Are So Important

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photo: Martin & Co.

Billy Strings didn’t need to air the personal business of his deceased mother in public. We’re not owed a reason why Debra passed away on June 20th earlier this year at the age of 64. We all just assumed it was some health-related incident that can befall any of us or our loved ones at an advanced age. But Billy’s choice to reveal her cause of death shows the wisdom of this young man, and how his gifts go far beyond plucking strings, or the stage and spotlight.

On November 21st, Billy Strings appeared on the podcast Dopey that mixes addiction and recovery discussions with irreverent humor, attempting to make these important topics accessible and maybe even entertaining to de-stigmatize addiction and overdose conversations. Strings has been open about his own battles with addiction, and is open about how he grew up with addiction all around him, including in his own household. Now at age 33, Strings considers himself “California sober.”

While on the Dopey podcast, Strings decided to share the details of his mother’s death that he felt were important to get out there to the public.

“For a second there, I really didn’t know what the fu-k happened. And I didn’t know how this all went down. I still don’t really. I don’t understand… I guess I never will, and I just need to fu-king let it go. 

But you know, we’re all sitting around, ‘Oh man, I wonder if it was an aneurysm. I wonder if it was a heart attack. I think she had a blood clot? Oh man, like wow, she just died like that. Wow, that’s so crazy.’

So then I’m on tour in Australia, and I get the email of the death certificate. Methamphetamine intoxication. And I didn’t know that she was using. I was like, I was in denial, even before that I was like, ‘Yeah, it ain’t gonna be nothing like that.’” 

Not only did Strings share this revelation on the podcast, he then clipped this portion out and shared it across social media. In previous eras, this would have been something families hid from the public, and maybe even from each other. There was a stigma around overdose deaths, mental illness, and suicide. But this is the whole reason Billy Strings wanted to share this information. He felt it was important to talk about these issues publicly, in hopes the discussion can help save lives.

Billy Strings and Mother Debra


The revelations about the mother of Billy Strings come at a time when we still have many unanswered questions about what led up to the death of Todd Snider, who passed away on November 14th due to what has been publicly announced as pneumonia. Todd Snider was 59 years old.

Pneumonia very well could have been the cause of Todd Snider’s death. But some have wondered how much mental health or addiction could have contributed as well since leading up to Snider’s passing, there were accounts of erratic behavior. This behavior also could have been the cause of Snider not being on the drugs he was prescribed, putting him in a compromised state. When the public asks these questions, they don’t do so to judge or pry. They do so to learn and show concern. Just like Billy’s mother Debra, Todd Snider was part of our musical community.

The well-being of everyone is something we should all concern ourselves with. A lot of concerns still linger when it comes to Todd Snider, especially when it comes to how he was turned away at a hospital in Salt Lake City and eventually was arrested as opposed to treated. Did that contribute to Snider’s death? When he returned to Nashville on November 3rd, why didn’t Todd go straight to the hospital? It wasn’t until he was goaded by friend and fellow performer Otis Gibbs that Snider sought medical treatment. At that point, it might have been too late.

For Billy Strings, it was an autopsy report that resulted into the revelations of how his mother died, and the lesson of how sometimes addiction can be living there right in plain sight, you just miss it. For Todd Snider, it has been revealed that the family and estate are refusing an autopsy.

When singer/songwriter Justin Townes Earle died in August of 2020 due to overdose, his family and associates used the tragic moment to underscore the risks of addiction, and specifically the fatal levels of fentanyl currently in the drug supply. Similarly, the family of country artist Luke Bell has used his death to elevate discussions and raise money for mental health resources.

Billy Strings talked previously how he was worried about his parents hanging out with some of his own fans and his shows since both his parents dealt with addiction issues. Perhaps they would interact with the wrong people. Even though Strings tries to set a good example for his own audience, illicit substances are certainly not foreign to a Billy Strings concert.

Strings told NPR after his mother’s death, “I worried about her running into the wrong people, or, you know, she’s been an addict my whole life and had short stints where she was doing pretty good, you know? And I loved to see her out there hanging with all the fans, but at the same time, I was leery of them. You know, I would go over to visit my parents’ house, and there would be, like, the fans there that I see in the front row of my concerts all the time.”

In 2022, Billy Strings cut an album with his father Terry Barber who taught him bluegrass and mentored him from an early age called Me/And/Dad. Strings said at the time it was a project he wanted to do before it was too late, and his career got away from him. Barber was Billy’s stepfather officially. Billy’s real father died of a drug overdose. Strings was planning for his next album to be a collaboration with his mother where she contributed the artwork, and Strings set music to her poems.

“She was gonna make the next record cover with her art, and we were gonna make songs out of this stuff. We were gonna try to do it,” Strings said on the Dopey podcast. But at this point, it will have to be a posthumous release with mother Debra.

The lessons are thick around the revelations Strings has shared about his mother’s death. And with the way addiction continues to be a scourge on our society and affect us all in significant ways, these are topics we should all be okay talking about and airing in public. The stigma should be against those who pass judgement on others who are suffering from these sometimes fatal afflictions. Because it could be that one discussion or revelation that could help save a life.

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