Country Music's Biggest Scandals

Spade Cooley was known as the King of Western Swing until his career ended in 1961 when he murdered his wife, Ella Mae Evans. He brutally beat her to death after she asked for a divorce. While Cooley claimed his wife died while falling in the shower, their 14-year-old daughter Melody testified against him, after he forced her to watch the savage murder of her mother. 

While Cooley went to prison, he was only behind bars for eight years before being released in 1969. While it looked like his career was about to get a second act, he suffered a massive heart attack while backstage at a concert and died.