Trace Adkins, 64, sat down with comedian Theo Von on his This Past Weekend podcast and revisited one of the most remarkable stories in country music history, the February 21, 1994 shooting by his then-wife Julie Curtis that sent a bullet through his heart and both lungs at point-blank range.
Doctors told his family to come say their goodbyes. He survived. He never pressed charges.
"That was uncalled for. That was totally uncalled for," Adkins said with characteristic dry humor. "Just leave. Let's just call it quits and we don't have to go that far."
He has never pressed charges and says he has never held a grudge either. The reason: he genuinely believes Julie didn't know what the gun would do. "I've just always felt like I don't think she meant to do it," he said. "I just don't think she thought it was gonna hurt me. She thought I was indestructible." He confirmed she later apologized.
The shooting stemmed from a confrontation about his drinking, a struggle Adkins has been publicly candid about for three decades.
He underwent emergency open-heart surgery that night and a second open-heart surgery six months later. He still has regular heart checkups. He is now on his 30th Anniversary Tour, married to his fourth wife actress Victoria Pratt, and apparently indestructible after all.
"It's the broken hearts that left the deepest scars," he told the podcast. "Not the bullet."