Naomi Judd, a five-time Grammy award winner, died at the age of 76 on Saturday. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory,” Naomi’s daughter Ashley Judd confirmed the news in her statement on Twitter. Naomi and her daughter Wynonna formed The Judds, the country music duo, in 1983. After her last tour, Naomi developed depression, panic attacks, anxiety and tremors.
Naomi Judd, along with her daughter, Wynonna, scored twenty top-10 hits and went undefeated for eight consecutive years at music awards shows. Their first single, Had a Dream (for the Heart) released in 1983, and it reached number 17 on the Billboard. As a songwriter, Naomi Judd also won a Grammy for country song of the year with the Judds’ hit Love Can Build a Bridge.
Last year The Judds were announced as inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and were set to be inducted on Sunday. The group had also recently announced a final tour for September.
The Judds had stopped performing in the 1990s after Naomi Judd was diagnosed with hepatitis C and Wynonna pursued a solo career. “The doctors all said that I was gonna die in three years, and that was in 1990,” Judd had said in 2010. “I told them I wasn’t gonna kick the bucket. I’m feeling very healthy, and alive and radiant.”
Soon after Naomi Judd’s death news broke out, several celebs mourned the demise of the veteran singer. Singer Maren Morris tweeted, “Rest In Peace, Naomi Judd. Honored to have witnessed ‘Love Can Build a Bridge’ just a few short weeks ago”.
Singer Melissa Etheridge tweeted, “I am sending love and peace to @Wynonna tonight. All the daughters in the world know the special place a mother holds in our hearts. Know that she is no longer in pain. Peace, my friend. #NaomiJudd”
