It's ironic, she sings a song like Country Strong and then...spoilers
kills herself.
I mean the lyrics of this big title song totally contradicts the last ten minuets of the movie.
You, couch. You, fired. Caio bitches!
I thought the ending made sense. She distroyed everything good in her life for the sake of her music. James, who she loved madly, was ready to tell her their marriage was over right before she went on. He still loved her, but she'd slept with Beau, and then slept with Jimmy to get Dallas back which was just plain gross. She took the baby bird to the bar and left it there (symbolic of what kind of mother she would be). How could he take her back? She disrespected him in every way possible.
Her life was her career, and "the best marriage in country music". And both were coming to a halt. One good concert doesn't save a career. She knew she was losing her husband. She knew she wasn't strong enough to stop drinking and the fame wasn't more important than the love anymore.
Actually, I don't think she was losing her husband. I believe he showed he was regaining his love for her from what he said just before she went on stage. One point was lost by sloppy editing. He calls her "Dove" just before she goes on stage and she reacts. One of the deleted scenes included in the extras points out that he called her Dove often during the early years of their marriage but no longer did so. So the scene where he does call her Dove was meant to show his regained feeling for her...that change in his feeling might have occured when he socked Beau.
I'm the kind of guy, when I move - watch my smoke. But I'm gonna need some good clothes though.