Mindy McCready, fresh from a stint on the hit VH-1 series Celebrity Rehab, with recovery guru Dr. Drew Pinsky, is speaking out about her addiction and recovery, including revealing what has been the most painful part of her lengthy struggle.

Addicted to both alcohol and prescription drugs, the singer says the substances were her way to escape. It was "about one bad relationship after another, whether it be a record company relationship or with a man," she explains on The View. "Starting out having a destructive relationship with my parents in my childhood ... when there would be some kind of crisis or some kind of painful thing would happen to me, it was readily available to go and drink too much."

Those painful times include two failed record label deals, a rumored ten-year affair with married Boston Red Sox player Roger Clemens (which allegedly began when Mindy was only 15 years old), an abusive ex-boyfriend, Billy McKnight (who was charged with attempted murder after a particularly violent attack), three suicide attempts and five separate arrests. But it was losing custody of her little boy, Zander, that became the wake-up call the troubled singer needed.

Blake Shelton is headed for late night TV this week, to make his second appearance on E! Entertainment's 'Chelsea Lately' with acerbic host Chelsea Handler on Thursday, March 18.

"I need to redeem myself!" Blake tells The Boot with a laugh, explaining that the sharpest tongue in late night comedy totally threw him off his game the first time he was on her show in January 2009. That said, the sharpest tongue on Twitter assures that he plans on one-upping the irrepressible Miss Chelsea with his own wicked sense of humor, this time around.

It seems the R-rated, late-night TV comedienne is actually a big fan of country music, as evidenced by a host of country singers she's been bringing on her show lately, among them Dierks Bentley, Reba, Darius Rucker, Jason Aldean and Sugarland.

"It's like hip-hop in terms of, the more you listen to it, the more you like it," Chelsea tells CMT.

Randy Houser is hard at work in the studio putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming album, 'They Call Me Cadillac.' While the disc is slated for a summer release, Randy offers this teaser of what fans can expect.

"It's definitely a more country record," Randy tells The Boot. "It's just exciting to be able to make music like that and do it how I want to do it. A majority of the record is like that. I think fans can really expect something different and something they haven't heard. It's something they're not used to hearing from me. That's exciting for me!"

Randy used both Nashville session players and his live band on the album which he says gives it a good mixture of unique sounds and styles.

"I'm real, real happy with how things have turned out so far with this new album," notes the singer-songwriter. "There are more songs on this album that are geared toward radio which I recorded with some of the Nashville cats. It's just real country. I can't wait for fans to hear it!"

Wynonna has been busy in the studio working on her next album, which will feature a couple of special guests, including her mother, Naomi Judd. The pair went in with their longtime producer, Don Potter, last week, and were "making memories," Wy shared on her Twitter page.

Also getting some tweet-time on Wy's Twitter account was the following not-so-cryptic riddle from Monday: "In the studio today with The Gambler hoping to avoid the Long Arm of the Law." The singer in question: Kenny Rogers.

The pair recorded a song for his upcoming album, which The Boot was told may also end up on her forthcoming project, scheduled for release some time this fall. No other details, including the title of the song, were revealed. Could it be Kenny's 1980 tune 'The Long Arm of the Law' as she alludes to in her tweet, or a brand new duet?

Gary Allan's first album in two-and-a-half years roars on to the Billboard Country Albums chart this week at No. 2, selling 65,000 copies, according to SoundScan. 'Get Off on the Pain' also bows on the Billboard 200 at No. 5 for the week.

Lady Antebellum still hold on to the top spot on the country chart with 'Need You Now,' but on the multi-genre Billboard 200, they drop from the top spot to No. 3, displaced (at No. 1 and 2, respectively) by Ludacris and Gorillaz -- which kind of sounds like the name of a scary law firm.

Lady A's 'Need You Now' remains country music's hottest digitally downloaded track and album for the week.

Elsewhere on the country album chart:

As a singer, Miley Cyrus has had greater success on the pop chart than she has on the country chart. And while she noted earlier this week that she plans to take on more acting roles rather than continue to pursue her music career for the time being, the daughter of country hitmaker (and fellow actor) Billy Ray Cyrus probably won't endear herself to country fans anyway, with one of the statements from a recent interview.

"It scares me," she tells PARADE magazine. "It feels contrived on so many levels. Unless you're wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and singing and whining about your girlfriend or boyfriend leaving you it's not going to sell. I think that's why my dad finally got out of it. You have to wear those cowboy boots and be sweet as pie. It makes me nervous, the politics of it all."

Miley recently recorded three versions -- including a country take -- of a song called 'Nothing to Lose,' with former Poison frontman Bret Michaels.

Carrie Underwood has five Grammy awards, she's sold more than 11 million albums and has notched eight No. 1 songs thus far in her career. She's also preparing for her first major film role, and headlining a sold-out tour, all while planning a wedding to hockey player Mike Fisher.

But while most people might feel a huge sense of satisfaction -- and maybe a little bit of arrogance -- with all of that happening, Carrie says her success actually makes her feel guilty!

"I think if anybody in my position felt like they deserved it, there'd be something wrong with them," the season four 'American Idol' winner tells Allure magazine (quote via FOX News.) "Because going through Idol, just that process, going to Hollywood and seeing all those people, there were beautiful women who were talented, and for some reason or another, they didn't make it and I did. I'm grateful, but I guess I'm a little guilty."