Billy Strings had performed a show minutes from his mother's home hours before she died on June 19, 2025.
Videos by Wide Open Country
While they were headed to a show in Lexington, Kentucky that night, the wife of the bluegrass artist woke him up to tell him the news.
He still played that show, telling the crowd that he "started walking" and found a church. He said a "kind lady let me in and she stayed with me and prayed with me for a while."
He told everyone the reason he performed that night was that it would be "what my mom would have wanted me to do."
Months later, Strings is still processing the tragedy and searching for answers.
What Happened to the Mother of Billy Strings?
Strings said he did not know what could have caused his mother's death. He explained what happened on the Dopey podcast, a show that focuses on drug addiction and recovery, hosted by David Manheim.
"We're all sitting around — 'Oh man, I wonder if it was an aneurysm? I wonder if it was a heart attack? Think she had a blood clot?'" he asked.
He was in Australia when he got an email with her death certificate and cause of death.
"Methamphetamine intoxication," said Strings. "And I didn't know that she was using."
Strings admitted he was in denial about the circumstances. His biological father died when the performer was only 2 years old from a heroin overdose. It was his musician stepfather who instilled in Strings a love of bluegrass.
How Is Strings Handling Things?
As the conversation went on, Strings made clear he is still coming to terms with the tragedy.
"For a second there, I didn't know what the f*** happened," he shared. "I still don't, really. I don't understand. I guess I never will, and I just need to f*****g let it go."
He added, "I was f*****g pissed. You know, just, to me, it was so f*****g stupid ...Like, really? This is how my mom f*****g dies? This is f*****g stupid, man. It just was unnecessary. And I still don't f*****g know really what the f*** happened."
Strings added that he is going to make a record featuring his mother's poetry to honor her.
"I went to her house and tried to find as much poetry as I could," he shared. "And that's what I'm doing right now. Just reading it and getting inside of her mind and trying to make songs from this stuff."
Check out a clip from the podcast below.
