As a teenager, Maci Willis fled the poverty and sexual abuse of her Louisiana childhood with the hope of finding a new life as a Nashville recording star or greasy spoon waitress. Despite the odds, the former fate unfolded, and Maci recorded hit songs for two decades while indulging a pampered lifestyle void of risks and regrets.

But all of that changed during one fateful performance.

While Maci sang a fourth encore to a crowd of 18,000, the music was shattered by a gunshot fired by an obsessed fan. She emerged triumphant from the...