Naomi Judd, matriarch of Country Music Hall of Fame duo The Judds, has died at the age of 76.
Bloomberg reports:
Naomi Judd, the Kentucky-born singer of the Grammy-winning duo The Judds and mother of Wynonna and Ashley Judd, has died. She was 76.
The daughters announced her death on Saturday in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement said. “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.” The statement did not elaborate further.
The Judds were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday and they had just announced an arena tour to begin in the fall, their first tour together in over a decade.
This post will be updated as more news becomes available.
What a terrible tragedy. Our best wishes to Naomi Judd’s family, friends, and fans.
I am so sad about this. The Judds has always been my favorite music duo.
Me too. I’m taken aback by how much this one hurts.
Wow. Was not expecting this and what a shocker. Was lucky enough to see the Judd’s on the farewell tour in 2010. What a show, feeling so blessed I got to see Naomi on tour. Judd’s music is just so timeless, she will always be remembered and her music with Wynonna will be celebrated for years to come. Didn’t know how hard this one would hit me…
Stacy Harris reported on her website that Naomi’s death was indeed by suicide. Stacy is a bit of a muckraker, and I don’t know her source but she is very rarely wrong.
http://stacyharris.com/musicrowreport.html
I thought that was likely from the subtext of the family’s statement. I know a lot of reporters are being cautious until it is or isn’t confirmed, out of respect to the family, her memory, and truthful reporting.
The writer linked above lacks respect for all three in that piece. I’d call it an exploitative tabloid article, not the work of a muckraker.
Oh, wow. I’ve never read her site before now, but I came here to say the same thing as Kevin. I’m highly unimpressed and bothered by what I read there, even outside of her writing about Naomi Judd.
Stacy’s column has been around for at least 20 years (in some form or another). She’s definitely a scandal monger, a liberal democrat and she is Jewish, so she is hyper-sensitive to any whiff of anti-Semitism or other forms of bigotry. I don’t really think she likes many of the participants of the “old Nashville” and I don’t think she is that well connected in the Nashville of 2010 onward (she was a publicist at some point in the past). On the other hand she frequently gets there first and I’ve seen later corroborations of many of the less savory things she writes. Her website is not updated all that regularly, so I only check it every couple of weeks
For a much more civil blog try Diane Diekman’s blog https://dianediekman.com/blog/
Wow. This one hurts so much. The Judd were the first act I considered ‘my favorite’. They are the very first artist I remember listening to. I would watch TNN religiously as a five year old for their music videos in the early 90s.
Sad news indeed – and i practically missed the 1980’s as far new music is concerned. (My kids were born in 1980 & 1982). While I bought Wynonna’s first 4 albums, I never checked out the judds.
…there are of course many bodies of work worth rediscovering in the country universe, but only a few are of the quality – when it comes to width and richness of sound and styles – like The Judds’. of all the (unaware) “gravediggers” of the “urban cowboy” period, they actually were the most adventurous, together with dwight yoakam, at least in my book. much deserved hall of famers for sure, yet what an incredibly sad day preceeded the big one for them. unbelievable.
Words can’t describe how much this one hurts. :(
As I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion here, The Judds were such an essential part of the soundtrack to my childhood, especially when I was little. Since I was born in 1985, I didn’t catch most of their songs when they were brand new, but I did get to enjoy many of them as recurrents on the radio throughout the early 90’s especially, and so many of their songs take me back to my earliest times of listening and enjoying country music, and even recording some of them on to tapes.
Some of the ones that bring back very fond memories of those times are: “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days),” “Why Not Me,” “Love Is Alive,” “Girls Night Out,” “Mama, He’s Crazy,” “I Know Where I’m Going,” “Young Love,” “Turn It Loose,” “Let Me Tell You About Love,” “One Man Woman,” “Born To Be Blue,” “Love Can Build A Bridge,” and “One Hundred And Two.” “Mama He’s Crazy” was also on an 80’s country compilation cd that my step dad bought in 2000 in York, Pennsylvania, and we’d play it in the car’s cd player for many of our PA trips from around that time. :)
Another one I’ve recently started enjoying and somehow missed during it’s original release is “John Deere Tractor” from the Fall of 1991. A couple of my favorite album cuts that come to mind right now are “I’m Falling In Love Tonight,” and “Old Pictures.”
I wont say much else except that mental issues and mental health in general is something that needs to be taken more seriously, imo. My heart goes out to Wynonna and Ashley during this time. :(
Along with the ones that you mentioned, I also love “Rockin’ with the Rhythm of the Rain” and “Guardian Angel.”
I’ve been listening to some Judd’s music pretty regularly since Naomi’s passing. It really blows me away how well this material has aged.
I’m working on some thoughts about that. I hope to publish the first of them tomorrow.
I agree wholeheartedly, Cory!
I can’t wait, Kevin!
I wholeheartedly agree, Cory!
I can’t wait for your thoughts, Kevin!
As I’ve said on another thread, I’ve been listening to Judds music on a loop since Naomi’s passing. I’ve also been listening to Wynonna music. I considered myself a fan of hers, but always more of a Judds fan. But since I’ve been listening to Wynonna music after Naomi’s death more thoroughly, it’s like I’ve rediscovered her and I’ve become a much bigger fan. It’s amazing how she was able to go from being in one of the best duos in country music to a heck of a solo artist on her own and achieve even greater success. Also, “No One Else On Earth” sounds just as good as ever 30 years later!