'It was a kill shot': Trace Adkins recalls the moment ex-wife Julie Curtis shot him

Trace Adkins says ex-wife Julie Curtis shot him through the heart and both lungs

Country star Trace Adkins is opening up about one of the most traumatic moments of his life, recalling how he survived a point-blank shooting by his ex-wife, Julie Curtis, in 1994.

Speaking on the This Past Weekend with Theo Von podcast, the 64-year-old singer reflected on his four marriages and the incident that nearly claimed his life during the breakdown of his marriage to Curtis.

"She was mad. Wanted me to leave, and I wasn't going to leave," Adkins said, explaining that Curtis shot him at close range after he reached out to take the gun from her.

According to Adkins, the bullet entered under his left arm and exited beneath his right arm, passing through his heart and both lungs.

"It was a kill shot," he said, adding that doctors told him he survived because the bullet was fired from such close range that it traveled straight through his body before it could expand.

Adkins said he remembers little immediately after being shot, recalling only getting up briefly before collapsing again. The most painful part, he said, came during recovery after undergoing surgery to repair his heart and lungs.

Despite the severity of the incident, Adkins said he does not believe Curtis intended to kill him.

"I don't think she even had any idea what that gun was going to do," he said, explaining that he had never seen her handle or fire a gun before. He ultimately chose not to press charges.

The shooting occurred during the couple's separation in 1994, and they divorced later that year.

Adkins has since remarried and wed Canadian actress Victoria Pratt in 2019. Earlier this month, he also spoke about his new patriotic single, American Made, and praised Pratt for becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.